Catch & Release
by cosmickym
Summary: When Sam died unexpectedly, Leah knew it was the end of their story. What she didn't know was that it was the beginning of her own story and that Sam's 3 best friends were going to play such a large role in it.
1. One For All and All For One

**Disclaimer:**

 **S.M. owns these characters and someone owns the rights to this movie, I just borrowed the concept.**

 **Preface:**

 **Okay, I'll try not to make this long because you guys dont wanna read me droning on and on.**

 **This isnt my first fanfic roller coaster ride and it isnt my first Twilight fanfic ride either. I seriously stopped writing twilight fics like 3 or 4 years ago and I stopped actively writing fics period like 2 years ago so imagine my surprise when, while watching a movie (Catch and Release) I got smacked in the face with an idea. My wheels started turning and here we are, me posting another story (which by the way, I had butterflies doing. I'm beyond nervous haha) So before you start reading, here's some random heads up.**

 **-If you've seen the movie, scrap that from your mind. Yeah, there will be a few things that you'll notice from the movie but beside the over all concept, not much will be like the movie. I like keeping people on their toes so, dont go in thinking you know what will happen.**

 **\- I love reviews, and I love thoughts about what you're reading, just dont be an ass about it.**

 **\- Rated M! Why? I dont know there might be some citrus infused in this story, who's to say? If you're not about that, so sorry.**

 **-Time will jump around. It wont be like day to day. There will be jumps in time between chapters. If it confuses anyone, lemme know.**

 **\- Updates ~should~ be every day. I say should because I do have a full time job but I also have 20 chapters already written up and ready for posting.**

 **Besides that, enjoy and remember to review!**

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She was supposed to be wearing a white dress.

She was supposed to be getting her hair curled and pedicures and manicures for her and the girls. She was supposed to be stumbling over her vows and sobbing or at least pretending to, to pacify her mother, and getting cake smashed in her face and dancing around like a damn idiot even though she had no rhythm. She was supposed to be happy and getting married.

Instead she was dressed in black watching as they lowered her fiancé into the ground. How did a healthy man collapse because of one little thing no bigger than a needle tip, popping inside of his head? How did she get such a shitty hand in life that nearly every man she ever loved died?

She should cry.

She could feel the weight on her chest and the lump forming in her throat. All it would take was one tear and she was positive the flood gates would burst. She knew people were watching her, waiting for her to collapse against her mother's shoulder in tears but they'd be sorely disappointed. She always saved her tears until she got home and could dump all of her bullshit on to Sam. He'd make her tea, nod his head and then tell her just how crazy she was. But no one was home now to make her tea and call her a lunatic. No one but the damn dog and she hated that thing and it hated her back. She told Sam over and over the beast wanted her dead but he didn't believe her. Maybe she could send it to the pound now that Sam was gone.

She forced herself to clench her eyes closed and she was sure she heard a few people hold their breath, their eyes burning holes into the back of her head. And yet when she opened her eyes again, there was nothing but dry eyes and indifference written on her face. She wasn't some fragile piece of china that needed to be handled with care, not today of all days. Today she was going to be steel and she wasn't going to crack.

Everything moved quickly after they lowered him into the ground. The small crowd moved from the graveyard to Sam's mother's house and everyone was crowded in the kitchen, whispering amongst themselves when they weren't breathing down her neck. She heard people mumble condolences, felt pats on her back and she was positive she even hugged a few people but she wasn't really there. The second his casket left her sight, she left with him.

Her mom was being insufferable. When she wasn't in such a shitty mood, she'd thank her for being there and picking her up when Leah didn't know what direction was up but right now, there was only so much primping and prodding she could deal with. She kept asking her if she was hungry or tired or needed water and all she wanted to do was run away and rip her hair out of her scalp.

"Leah honey, you have to eat something," her mother said for the millionth time, seeing the distant look in her daughter's eyes. "You didn't eat this morning and you should let me make you a pl-"

"I have to pee Mom, I'll be back," she cut her off, hoping that her mother wouldn't follow behind her to the bathroom like she did earlier in the day. She was grateful for her mom but right now, she just needed a second, just one single second where she wasn't the almost widow and no one was pitying her, even if that second was in Sam's mom's horrible peach colored bathroom.

Her trek to freedom was a lot harder than she anticipated. It was like each step she took someone would stop her, tell her how sorry they were, how young Sam was, how this was all just so heartbreaking or something else that made her sick to her stomach and she'd be forced to smile and console the poor guests that probably hadn't seen Sam in years.

By the time she got to the bathroom and pushed open the door, she wasn't expecting anyone to be in there considering everyone was in her face out in the living room.

"Oh," she muttered, seeing a tangle of limbs and a fluff of blonde hair. As soon as her presence was noticed, the limbs pulled apart and Leah recognized the caterer as the blonde fluff of hair. She stood up and tried her best to adjust before skimping past Leah, her make up still askew.

"Sorry," the girl said, her voice cracking as she walked out of the door.

Leah turned back to the bathroom and felt a hiss bubble in her throat. Of all bathrooms in all the world, why did this have to be the bathroom Sam's idiot best friend decided to hook up in? She didn't know whether to scream or vomit in disgust but she was honestly considering a combination of the two.

"I know you're a degenerate Jake but you do realize there's a funeral going on out there right?" Leah said shakily.

He raised his hands in surrender and stood up, not bothering to hurriedly clean himself up like the caterer did. Of course he wouldn't have respect for the dead. He didn't even have respect for the living and yet again, Leah wondered how the hell Jake and Sam became friends. While Sam was honest and trustworthy, Jake was sleazy and bended the truth. If Sam was the good guy that every girl wished they could meet and fall in love with, Jake was the guy that every girl wished they could forget after a night of drinking. He was hot and he knew it and used it. Sam was kind, Jake was a jackass and so on and so on. They were complete opposites and yet when they met in their college frat, they were inseparable. Sam had mentioned something about being the big man on campus but then when Jake came around, he challenged his alpha dog role. And Sam always did like a challenge.

"Thought I locked the door. My bad," Jake sighed, running his hand through his disheveled hair.

She wanted to say so much. Like the fact that they were at Sam's funeral and Jake chose now to get his rocks off instead of being a sane human being and mourning. Then again, this was Jake she was talking about and she didn't put much past him. If it was any other time, Leah would rip him a new one like she'd done many times before but right now, she wasn't in the mood for a screaming match. Especially since Sam wasn't there to calm her down.

"Get out," she struggled to say.

Jake stared at her for a while before raising an eyebrow. "Wow… no smart ass remark?"

"Yeah, I'm too busy mourning my dead fiancé to tell you what a waste of space you are… get out."

She was thankful when he walked out of the room without another word and she kicked the door shut before inhaling deeply.

 _Don't Cry. Don't Cry. Don't Cry._

She could hear Sam's voice in her head telling her that constantly forcing emotions down was going to make her burst one day. Normally she'd wave him off and say that she was never going to burst but right now, she could feel herself teetering on the edge and maybe bursting might feel a little bit better than this.


	2. Two Be or Not Two Be

She should have pushed for cremation, maybe then she wouldn't be walking into the house feeling so… empty handed. Her mom had offered to come home with her, maybe even stay with her for a few days but nothing would drive Leah crazy faster than being with her mother for the next week while simultaneously trying to figure out what the hell her life was going to be now. She knew who she was last week. Last week she was getting married to the best guy in the entire world and she felt lucky. Not because she'd dreamt of this day since she was a little girl, which she hadn't but because she never thought she'd be the marrying type. In fact, she never thought she'd be the happy type either. Ever since she was younger, she had a chip on her shoulder and if you asked her, it all started the day her dad died. So she walked around with this dark cloud over her head and then she met Sam and he was like the sun and the stars all combined. He made her better and she loved him with everything she was and she planned on loving him forever.

But fate decided to fuck around with her life and kill her sun and stars and she felt dark all over again.

The first thing that greeted her was the damn dog, staring at her with those big brown eyes wondering where Sam was. It was a furry thing and she couldn't for the life of her figure out if it was a boy or a girl. Sometimes she heard Sam call it "Mama" but when he wasn't doing that, he called it Duke.

"What?" Leah asked, kicking the door shut and tossed her bag on to the table by the door. Her heels were killing her feet and all she wanted was to take a hot shower and wash the day off of her. She didn't even bother to wait until she was in her room to strip out of her restricting dress and yank the pins that were keeping her perfectly twisted bun on top of her head in place.

The water was hot when she got in and she rested her forehead against the cool tile, closing her eyes as she did. She was so alone now. Sure, she had friends from school but Sam was her best friend. He was the one that got her twisted jokes and he was the one that made her laugh until her sides hurt. Who did she have now besides her mom and brother? She wished she was more of a social butterfly in school. Sure, she had her bridesmaids, most of them relatives from her side of the family or Sam's but right now she could do with having her best friends surround her and a good bottle of wine.

Leah winced as she turned slightly under the water, the heat stinging her skin. She was going to boil if she didn't get out soon but she didn't want to face what was waiting for her when she stepped out. She was in an empty house with a dog she hated and she was going to have to sleep in a bed alone. Maybe she should have stayed with her mom for a bit, at least until she could be alone in their house without feeling like she was coming out of her skin.

She sluggishly got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body before shuffling to the bedroom. Duke followed her and all she could do was stare at the gender fluid dog and feel sorry for it. Duke just wanted Sam and Leah was no Sam.

"I know… I miss him too," she whispered, slowly digging through her clothes for something to wear. She spotted a pile of Sam's dirty clothes that she'd yelled at him about the day he'd died and she felt her eyes sting as she lifted a shirt up and inhaled. It smelled just like him, like he was still here even though he so obviously wasn't. Before she could stop herself, she was slipping the shirt over her head and curling into it as the hem hit her knees. If she closed her eyes tight enough, it even still felt warm, like he was hugging her.

She ran a hand through her wet hair, grabbed a pair of underwear and stared at the dirty hamper. The clothes he wore to go fishing were still on top and his boots were positioned right next to them. She remember how he tried to convince her to go fishing with him and how she told him no for not only moral reasons but for outlandish ones too. She hated fishing. Her dad did it, her brother did. Every man in this damn state did it and when she was a kid, she even tried it. But then she made eye contact with the bass she'd caught and she was sworn off it immediately. She truly believed that fish was talking to her that day, begging her to throw him back and to never eat him or any of his cousins ever again. Sam had laughed for hours after he told her that story but he never asked her to go fishing with him ever again. Now all she wanted was for him to just nag her about coming out on the boat with him because if saying yes meant he'd still be alive, she'd catch thousands of fish and never let them go.

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 **A/N: Short but sweet. The story picks up in the next chapter.**

 **Make sure to review. It makes me wanna update!**


	3. Three Blind Mice

"So I'm moving into Sam's old place," her brother said slowly as they prepared Sunday dinner. Her hand froze over the carrots she was cutting and turned to look at her only sibling. He cleared his throat and nervously scratched the back of his neck. "Uh… Embry said that they'd been thinking about getting another roommate for a while but I guess the funeral kinda triggered it for them."

"Oh?" Leah mumbled, going back to cutting.

"Yeah," Seth sighed. "They said I can have the room upstairs. They would've offered me Sam's old room but a lot of his stuff was still in it."

"What kinda stuff?"

Seth shrugged, handing her an onion. "Just old college stuff. Like old books and clothes. I don't think they're ready to clean it out yet to be honest. Which I'm cool with ya know?"

Leah stared down at the orange vegetable in her hand and continued to cut slowly, her mind drifting off. When she met Sam, he was living in that god forsaken wannabe frat house with Jacob, Embry and Quil and she hated going over there. One, it always had a weird smell and two, the floors were always sticky. So when she asked him to move in with her, he jumped at the chance and she jumped at the chance to never go over there again. That was probably where her rivalry with Jacob started. He felt like she'd stolen his best friend and she felt like he was a horrible influence on Sam. He was a good guy who needed good guy friends, not guys like Jacob. Quil was a bit much but she could accept. Embry, she liked however. He was kinda quiet and was always really nice to her. Even at the funeral he did what no one else would do and gave his condolences and left her the hell alone.

"You sure you wanna live with Jacob?" Leah said suddenly.

Seth chuckled and cocked his head to the side. "Jake isn't that bad Lee. He's pretty cool once you get to know him."

"So are most serial killers and then bam, you're in a ditch, dead."

"Lee…"

Leah shrugged and plopped the carrots into the broth on the stove. "Hey, you're a big boy, do what you want Seth. Just be careful. I've heard horror stories about Jake."

He nodded his head and stared at his older sister with a frown as she robotically started to chop the onion.

"Hey Lee?"

"Hm?" she hummed.

"You okay?"

Leah froze and looked up at Seth, forcing a smile onto her face. "Yeah… I'm good. You know you don't have to keep asking me that."

"I know but I just wanna look out for you."

"I'm the older sibling remember?" she said, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "I'm okay."

"And you'll tell me if you need anything?" Seth asked with hopeful eyes.

"In a heartbeat… actually I might need your help with something. I kinda wanna get some of Sam's things from the guys' house. Just so I can sort and figure out what things I should get rid of. His mom wants most of it though."

"Uh yeah. I can talk to Embry, see what time works for him but are you sure you're ready?"

Leah shrugged, not knowing the answer. To be honest, she would never be ready to let go of Sam or his things but she was functioning and she had to do what she had to do.

"His stuff can't stay here forever while he's gone Seth. Either I do it now, or I do it a year from now. And a year from now might be too painful," she said just as her mother came through the door.

"I come bearing gifts!" she said smiling brightly. "I got the bread and I got the wine."

"Are we having communion?" Seth asked.

Sue placed the items on to the countertop and shook her head. "No but we are having a guest."

"Who?" Leah questioned.

"Chief Swan," Sue mumbled, looking away from her two children. Seth and Leah shared a look before watching the blush rise on their mother's cheeks.

"Ew, Mom come on," Seth gagged.

"What?" Leah asked, confused.

Sue huffed, taking off her coat. "It's one dinner and besides Charlie keeps asking about Leah and I know he wants to see how she's doing."

Leah furrowed her brows in confusion. "Why is the police chief asking about me and since when is his first name Charlie? I thought it was Chief."

"Since he and mom have been… seeing each other," Seth said in disgust.

Leah stared at her mother in shock. "What? Mom! You're dating the Chief of police? You know he pulled me over when I was 17 for speeding right? Conflict of interest."

"As I recall, you were more than just speeding honey. You had some marijuana on you too."

Leah shrugged. "Potato patato. Since when are you dating?"

"Since I am a 57 year old widow. Did you think I was going to die alone?" Sue chuckled.

"What's so bad about dying alone? That's what I'm facing now and it honestly doesn't seem so bad to me," Leah said. It must have come off a lot darker than she'd intended because instantly the light hearted tone in the room went out the window and was replaced with a somber one.

"Leah honey, you aren't gonna die alone. Sometimes life hands us lemons and we have to make lemonade," Sue said in that sickeningly sweet tone Leah hated.

"Thanks Beyoncé," she said, backing up with her hands raised. "I didn't say it for you two to gimme that look. So stop. I'm okay."

Sue nodded sadly and gave her daughter one last look before disappearing into the dining room.

"I can't believe Mom is dating… I feel like she's been alone for so long, I'm not used to it now."

Seth leaned against the counter top with a nod. "Dad has been gone for almost 6 years. Maybe it's time for her to finally get out there."

"With Chief Swan though?" Leah groaned. "Remember his daughter? Bellatrix?"

"Bella," Seth laughed.

"Whatever. She was a total bitch. She had that face that said she was nice and probably as dumb as a board but then that was all a part of her manipulation."

Seth reached into the fridge and pulled out two beers, tossing one to Leah who was washing her hands. "You sure you're not just saying that because she started dating your ex?"

"Hey! We don't mention him in this house. It's like bad juju or something. And don't let the Chief see you drinking that since legally he could arrest us," she said before cracking a genuine smile. How long had it been since she'd really smiled? Probably well before Sam's funeral. He was the last person to make her smile every day and now it was like a foreign thing to actually be enjoying herself. Maybe that's what her mother was going through now? Maybe she was tired of wanting a dead man and she just wanted to enjoy herself. She couldn't fault her for it but all Leah could think about was what if she got to that point when she was ready to move on? She couldn't even fathom the idea. Sam had just died less than a month ago, she was still grieving and she was sure she'd be grieving for a while.

"Hey," Seth snapped his fingers after he'd taken a sip of his beer. "You aren't really upset about Mom dating again, are you?"

Leah shook her head. "No… besides for all we know he could just be a booty call."

"Ugh," Seth gagged once more. "Thanks for the mental image Lee."

"You're welcome, perv."


	4. Fore

The floor was still sticky.

She honestly wasn't surprised. Though none of them were in college anymore, it was like they still lived that frat house lifestyle. Beer cans all over the place, a giant screen tv attached to an Xbox, stacks of paper everywhere. It was a zoo. And yet this is where she knew she loved Sam. She'd said it right on that rickety front porch so she did have some respect for it. Not that much though.

"Hello?!" Seth called, forcing the door shut with all of his might. "Geez, that door needs fix."

"Along with the house?" Leah added with a smirk. "Maybe if we're lucky it can get bulldozed and an actual safe home could be built in its place."

Embry came jogging out of the kitchen, his chest covered in flour. "Hey! Sorry I lost track of time, I forgot you guys were coming over."

"What are you doing?" Seth asked eyeing the mess on his friend's shirt and face.

Embry pointed back to the kitchen and shrugged. "Oh nothing. Quil and I were making muffins."

"Is that a euphemism?" Leah quipped.

"Nope," Embry shook his head. "We were literally making muffins. We're really into them right now. Protein muffins, bran muffins, all kindsa muffins. You guys wanna try one?"

"Yeah!" Seth said excitedly. "Gimme one of those protein ones."

"All gone, Jake ate them. Can I interest you in a blueberry muffin?"

"Even better."

Embry snapped his fingers and walked back into the kitchen to grab the snack for Seth.

"You're gonna fit in great here," Leah deadpanned. "I'm gonna head to Sam's room." She didn't wait for him to offer to come mostly because she wanted to be alone. She could hear music coming from Jacob's bedroom next door and cursed under her breath. She really didn't want to run into him today and maybe if she was lucky, he'd stay in there and not bother her while she went through her dead fiancé's things.

The room looked like it hadn't really been touched since she was here last which was well over 2 years ago. The bed was messy, there were boxes stacked up against the wall and the bookshelf was full of books most likely from when Sam was in school. It practically looked like Sam had lived there instead of their house. Then again, it would make sense that he would come over here when she was being crazy and just relax in his old room.

She went and took a seat on the bed, wincing when she spotted a picture on the ground. She lifted it up, smiling to herself when she saw a copy of the picture she had at home. It was her and Sam on Halloween, their first year of dating. They'd decided on a couple's costume but most of them were lame so she decided that they needed to be pizza rat. Only three people got the joke at the party.

Leah felt that tightness in her chest once again and brought the picture up to her lips before kissing it.

 _Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry._

Not here. Not now.

She looked up, hearing Jake's door opening and he slipped out, a muffin in his hand and a towel held directly over his crotch. He had nothing else on and she wondered why guys lived like animals. He hadn't seemed to notice her and she was grateful for it because she was kinda checking him out. It was purely objective and her mind wasn't going anywhere it didn't need to be but it had been a while since she'd seen a naked guy. If he weren't such a dick, she'd say he was attractive maybe even good looking. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Jake turned around, facing her with a smirk.

"See something you like?" he asked, taking a large bite of the muffin in his hand.

Leah felt her cheeks warm in embarrassment and stared down at the picture in her hand.

"More like something vomit inducing," she shot back, placing the frame beside her on the bed and standing up. "Do you not own a shirt or pants for that matter?"

"My house. Why are you in Sam's room?" he nodded towards her, swallowing the last bits of muffin in his mouth.

"My fiancé. Besides I'm packing up some of his things."

Jake's eyes widened slightly but he regained his composure. "Why? They're fine right here."

"His mom wants them and I promised to get them sorted for her."

Jake scoffed. "What the hell does Debra need with old college t-shirt and a bunch of papers?"

Leah got ready to say something smart but as she looked at the tool across the room from her, something crossed her mind that she never thought would. Jake was grieving too. He had a fucked up way of showing it but he was dealing with the loss of his best friend. It was like when Sam moved out all over again. He acted all macho and un-phased but it was obvious he didn't want Sam to leave.

"Did you hate me?" she asked suddenly. "When Sam moved in with me?"

"How could anyone hate someone as cheerful as you Leah," Jake said sarcastically with a broad smile, earning an eye roll from Leah. She stood up from the bed with a shake of her head and wiped her hands on her jeans.

"Forget I even asked," she said, walking past him to leave the room. "And for the love of god, put some pants on."

"Still my house," he called after her.

Leah ran downstairs, feeling a headache come on and walked in on Seth and Embry salivating over a plate of muffins.

"I need this recipe," Seth said, closing his eyes slowly. "It's so moist."

"Ugh," Leah cringed. "Not the 'm' word."

Seth turned around and offered her a half of his muffin. "Lee you gotta try this. Quil said he got the recipe from Pinterest and I am losing my mind," he emphasized.

"No thanks," Leah shook her head. "I should get going. The beast needs to eat and Sam would kill me if I let Duke die from starvation no matter how much the thought has crossed my mind."

Seth stood from his stool and dusted his hands of all muffin crumbs before looking around his sister. "Where's the boxes?"

"There's a lot more than I expected so it might take a few days to clear everything out. So I'll probably be back tomorrow."

"Stay for dinner," Embry perked up. "We can make it or something and then we can all help you kinda unpack the room. Ten hands is better than two."

Leah was reluctant. If she wasn't spending time at her mothers, she was curled up at home feeling like the walls were caving in on her. "I dunno… you cook?"

"No, Quil does but even if he isn't we can order take out."

Leah nibbled on her lip in thought and shrugged. "A dog can go a night without eating right? Why not?"

Just as the words left her mouth, Jacob came jogging down the stairs thankfully clothed this time around.

"Where's Quil, he's parking me in," he said, nodding in greeting to Seth.

"Checking the mail slash checking out your neighbor," Seth chuckled. "What's her name again?"

"Ms. Jones?" Jake asked with a slight look of disgust. "Jesus, she's like 53. Talk about a mother complex."

"Oh so you have standards for the women you sleep with?" Leah found herself saying. She didn't want to start a fight but it was like when she was around Jacob, it was word vomit.

"Yeah Leah I do," he said turning to face her. "I like my women not to have weak hips."

"Pig," she shook her head.

"So Leah do you want Chinese or pizza?" Embry interrupted, trying to calm both of them down. Before she could answer, Quil came walking in, whistling lowly.

" _Me and Mrs. Jones_ ," he sang, forcing the front door shut.

"Yo, Casanova, you're parking me in," Jacob called.

"My bad," Quil said, handing out mail to Embry and Jacob before frowning at a letter in his hand. "It's something for Sam."

Leah's ears perked up and she opened her mouth to take responsibility for whatever it was but before she could, Jacob had snatched it out of his roommate's hand.

"I got it," he said, earning a few confused looks. "It's my stripper bill. Sam was paying it off for me."

"I'm not even sure if you're joking or not," Seth frowned.

"I'm a mystery wrapped in an enigma," Jacob winked, grabbing his bag and heading out the door. "Quil, move your damn car."

"Coming," Quil called following behind Jacob. "Geez. You can always tell when Bella is in town. He becomes a real dick."

"Bella?" Leah asked. "As in Bella Swan?"

"You know her?" Embry asked, tearing open his own mail.

"We went to the same high school… how does she know Jake?" she asked.

Embry stood and tossed his papers into the trash. "They were engaged forever ago."

That was a surprise to Leah. She never in her wildest dreams would have thought that Jacob was the marrying type. He was a stereotypical juiced up womanizer. This didn't fit his memo.

"Shocking right," Embry nodded. "You look at him now and you think he was like that his entire life but seeing him with Bella was a sight. It was kinda disgusting."

"I bet," she muttered, shaking her head to refocus her thoughts. "You know what, I might try one of those muffins after all."

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 **A/N: Okay so after Chapter 5, updates will be slowed down. I'm moving out of state so life is going to be pretty crazy and I wont be able to update as much. But make sure you guys review because I honestly dont know if anyone is liking this lol so please please PLEASE review! I appreciate it!**


	5. High Five

"Most of this shit is Jake's so why exactly isn't he here helping?" Quil asked, tossing a box on to the floor by the door.

Embry was busy placing clothes into bags for them to sort later. "He said he had some work thing but we know that meant he was stopping by the station in hopes of bumping into Bella. He really is a glutton for punishment."

Leah pulled a book from the shelf and placed it on to the table. "What does Jake even do for a living? I don't think I actually know."

"He does police sketches down at the station for the most part," Quil said.

"But nothing happens here," Seth said, lifting a box from the corner.

"That's why he'd be broke if he wasn't a trust fund baby," Quil said before squealing at the sight of a spider. "Fucking hell…"

"Trust fund?" Leah asked, walking over and killing the creature that made Quil jump like a child.

"His mom died when he was like eight and left a shit ton of money for him," Embry explained.

Leah nodded and continued to pull books off the shelves but paused. If Jacob had money, why on earth would he need Sam's help to pay of stripper bills? She knew it was a lie but she couldn't fathom why he would jump at the chance to take something that had Sam's name on it. It was too secretive for her liking and when he got back, she'd ask to see the letter. But right now, she needed to stop. They'd been at it for a few hours and she was sure it was way later than she'd planned on staying. But for some odd reason, being around Quil and Embry and even her brother, it was making her feel better. She could see why Sam was friends with Embry. He was honest and kind and have every good quality that Sam had. And Quil was funny and could make anyone laugh, no matter how shitty they felt. It was like the more time she spent with them, the more she felt like Sam wasn't that far away from her.

"We should probably call it a night," she said, wiping her hands clean of dust and stifling a yawn. "I don't know how much more we have left but I'm sure I can get through all of this tomorrow if it's fine with you guys."

"Yeah of course," Embry said with a smile. "You can come with Seth since he's moving his things in then."

"Ohhh man, this is gonna be awesome," Quil said, draping his arm around Seth's neck. "I don't have to be the house bitch anymore."

"House bitch?" Seth chuckled. "What is that?"

"The weakest person in the house," Embry laughed lightly. "He thinks he can take you Seth."

"Oh yeah?" Seth said with a raised eyebrow before tackling Quil to the ground. They wrestled around, grunting and laughing like a bunch of teenagers while Embry helped Leah stack a box out of the way.

"Thanks for helping," she said with a small sigh.

"No problem. We all loved Sam so we're in it together," he said, his eyes never leaving her face. "I know you've probably been asked this enough but how are you holding up?"

Normally Leah would have bitten someone's head off for asking her the same question over and over again but when she looked at Embry, she saw the person no mean person could be rude to, no matter how much they wanted. So instead, she ran a hand through her hair and folded her arms with a shrug.

"You want the truth or what I've been telling people?" she half joked.

"The truth would be good," he replied.

Leah wasn't even sure what the truth was anymore. She'd been telling people she was fine for the longest time that she'd convinced herself she was in fact fine when she was still having a hard time.

"How are you holding up?" she asked instead of answering.

Embry fluffed his dark hair and sighed deeply. "Sam was the big brother we all wanted. Especially to Quil. I think he kinda hides it well but Sam was the _guy_ and him not here really sucks for all of us."

Leah nodded in understanding. She remembered how adamant Sam was about having his old roommates in the wedding no matter how inconvenient it was going to be. "He loved you guys. He would always tell me something funny Quil said or how you were a genius and even stories about Jake no matter how many times I told him I didn't care."

"Yeah," Embry nodded. "I feel like he's taking it hardest of all. I like to think we were all best friends but Jake and Sam… they were like brothers."

Leah scoffed. "Is that why I walked in on him screwing the caterer?" she blurted out.

Embry didn't seem surprised and simply shrugged. "We all grieve in our own way. Quil bakes. I cry like a baby and Jake messes around with strangers. It all just means we miss our best friend."

She sucked in her lips and bobbed her head quickly, stifling a yawn. "God, I'm exhausted," she groaned.

Embry glanced at the two men rolling around on the floor, still wrestling. "Well if you ever need a place to unwind or just get away from it all, this room is always open. Sam used to come here sometimes and if it was his home once upon a time, it's yours too. In fact, you should spend the night."

"What?" Leah frowned.

"Yeah, so you don't have to go back to your house and drive out early in the morning. You can just start early if you want."

Leah opened her mouth to refuse just as Seth pinned Quil to the floor with a loud grunt. Seth bounced up and straightened his shirt with a smug grin. "Looks like you're still the house bitch."

"Yeah whatever," Quil said, standing as well and running his fingers through his perfectly quaffed hair. "I wanna rematch."

"Anytime you want man."

Embry smiled at his friends before shrugging a shoulder. "You don't have to stay if you don't want Leah."

"No," she shook her head. "I will. In fact, it'll be good. I won't have to waste gas. Besides I gotta keep an eye on Seth. He's only ever lived with Mom and he might be 20 but he's still a baby in my eyes."

"Yeah, a baby back bitch," Quil joked, earning a hard smack in the chest from Seth. "Ow!"

"Well the bed is yours," Embry gestured towards the room. "I can get you some clean linens if you want."

"Yeah that would be good because I'm beat. Thanks Embry."

"No problem," he said softly before turning to usher the other two out of the room. "Okay Stone Cold and The Rock, let's go."

"Night Leah," Quil tossed her way before smacking Seth in the back of the head and bolting out of the room. Seth hissed but he didn't chase after Quil right away.

"You gonna be okay staying the night?" he asked. "I know being in a testosterone fueled house isn't your ideal Friday Night."

Leah frowned and shook her head. "Please, I have more testosterone than all of you," she teased, cupping his cheek. "I'll be fine Sethy."

"Well I'm gonna stay on the couch downstairs so I can help you in the morning okay?"

"Don't you have class?" she asked.

He rolled his eyes. "It's community college. I won't _die_ if I miss a lecture on advanced astrophysics."

"Um it sounds like exactly that would happen. You're not missing class. But if you stayed tonight, I'd love you forever."

"Deal," he said leaning over and kissing her cheek. "Night Lee."

"Night." She watched him run downstairs and turned around, facing Sam's room. This was weird, she could admit that. She was staying in her dead fiancé's old house, in his old room with his best friends down the hall from her because it honestly made her miss him less. This couldn't be healthy but it was coping and right now, she needed to cope instead of whatever the hell she was doing before.


	6. Sicks

Leah heard Jacob come in well after 3 am. The walls were thin and she'd tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position on the full size bed but even here she couldn't find the spot. She was starting to forget what sleeping with someone felt like and moving around to find the right dip in the bed was becoming her new normal. She hated it. She was used to Sam's light snores and being the big spoon on cold nights. Flopping around bed like a fish out of water was not how she wanted her bed time routine to go.

She wondered why Jacob had come in so late. She knew the guys said he was working but what kind of sketch artist worked well into the devil's hour?

Oh right, the kind of guy that Jacob was.

She flinched, hearing the springs in his bed move and not even a few minutes later, snores. She envied how quickly he just fell into sleep like it was an old friend while she was fighting with sleep like it was her enemy. He'd just gotten in and already he sounded like he was having the best sleep of his life. In fact, his snores were keeping her up. She rolled over on to her back and place a pillow on her face, hoping to drown out the machine like sound but she had no such luck. Maybe if she was lucky he'd just stop breathing in his sleep and die. Then again, knowing her luck, he would keep on kicking and snore all night long.

She was exhausted, she had been all day and she was hoping for some kind of rest but all she got was restlessness. To make matter worse, there was an alarm that kept going off somewhere in the room. At first she tried to ignore it but it just kept happening over and over again. It was like Jacob's snores and the alarm were trying to make some kind of swan song for Leah's own personal hell. She tossed the covers off of her legs and grumpily tore around the room, looking for the ear splitting sound. When she finally found the cell phone, she was beyond pissed because it must have been one of Jacob's. First his snoring and now his phone? She barreled her way out of the room and opened his door without knocking, frowning in disgust as he slept very much in the nude and she had a clear sight of his ass hanging off the side of the bed.

"Hey," she whisper yelled, not wanting to wake the whole house up.

He didn't move.

"Jake," she said, kicking his bed slightly. "Wake up!"

"Mm," he moaned, lifting his head and turning his tired eyes her way. "Is this a nightmare?"

"No, you ass, turn your phone off," she said, tossing the offending object on to his bed.

He took one look at it and scoffed, placing it back down. "It's not mine. It must be Sam's."

There was silence for a moment. One, because Leah knew for a fact Sam didn't have a second phone. Why would he? He had one phone that he used for work and life, he didn't need a second one unless he was doing something he shouldn't be doing and two, because the minute the words left Jacob's mouth, he knew he had fucked up. He bolted out of bed with wide eyes and reached for the phone.

"Actually, maybe it is mine—" He pounced onto it but he wasn't fast enough because Leah had already grabbed the phone and was scrolling through it. Over 15 missed calls all from the same contact name.

Emily. Emily. Emily. Emily.

Leah scrolled on and on and on and that was the only name she saw until they all started to blend together.

"Leah gimme the phone," Jacob said calmly.

"Who's Emily?" she flashed towards him, brandishing the phone.

Jacob shrugged his arms, not bothering to cover himself up with his covers. "How the hell should I know?"

Leah gave him a look. "You expect me to believe this is your phone but yet an Emily has called," she glanced down at the screen. " _17 times_ and you have no clue who the hell she is?!"

Jacob stared at her, a dumbfounded look on his face. They both knew there was no way for him to get out of this, no lie for him to tell. If this was Sam's phone, she wanted to know who this Emily girl was and why she was calling so damn much.

"Is this Sam's phone?" she asked. She just wanted him to be honest with her, she at least deserved that. She was watching her happy life shatter around her and all she wanted was the truth. Jacob dropped his head in defeat and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. The lump formed in Leah's throat at his demeanor and she knew, it was Sam's phone.

 _Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry._

"You know I always used to think Sam was the one that cleaned up your messes but I see you actually returned the favor," she said, the lump becoming unbearable. She needed to leave this room, hell this house, right now or she might explode. She spun on her heels and ran down the stairs, her eyes stinging from the tears that fought to get out. This couldn't be happening. Sam had just died. She was grieving the perfect man and now here was a stone that could shatter her entire glass dream and life she thought she had with him.

"Lee?" Seth called groggily from the couch. "You okay?"

"Fine," she said quickly, struggling to open the front door. "Just need some air."

"I'll come with you," he offered.

"No! You stay… I'm okay I swear."

She hated lying to her brother especially since he was one of the only people still alive who she could be real with. She rolled her eyes at her own thought. She thought she and Sam could be real with each other but here she was holding a phone of his that she didn't know even existed with a bunch of missed calls from someone called Emily.

Leah took a deep breath as she sat on the first step of the porch. Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe this was another work phone he forgot about and Emily was just some girl he worked with that didn't know he died? Or maybe Emily was a distant family member who didn't make it to the funeral? Denial was so easy for Leah because she didn't want to accept what was right in her hand. She didn't want to believe that her perfect guy was just like all the others but most of all she didn't want to believe that Sam was cheating on her.

She swallowed thickly and stared down at the phone, wondering if she should listen to one of the voicemails. Could she handle the shock if it wasn't what she wanted? She was pretty sure the answer was no. Sam wasn't here to be at the receiving end of every insult she had for him so it would just be a bunch of pent up anger that she could never release and would just have to bury. She stood up and dialed voicemail, her hand shaking as she brought the phone to her ear.

"Sam?" The voice on the other end was sweet. So sweet that Leah felt like she might vomit. She sounded like the girl you ordered coffee from or the girl that everyone claimed was a social butterfly. She didn't have a voice like Leah's. Leah's voice was throaty and cracked at the most random times and sounded weird over the phone. "Look I don't know what's going on or why you wont answer my calls… I know the last time you were here I said some things that I shouldn't've and I'm sorry for that but…just call me back when I get this okay."

Leah clicked to the next message and the same kind voice filled her ears. "Okay Sam I am effing over this! It's been like a month and you know you wanted to be this good guy and stick around because you said you cared about me and about us but this is total bull shark. Call me back!"

Leah couldn't hear anymore. Her heart couldn't take it. No matter what way her brain tried to figure out who this woman was, it always landed on what the evidence showed. Sam was having an affair. She felt her chest start to feel heavy and spun around to go back into the house but gasped when Jacob was standing there and caught her.

"We need to talk," he said calmly.

"No we don't," she said weakly. She didn't have it in her to fight with him right now, not when she was mourning Sam and simultaneously wondering if she could resurrect him just to kill him again.

"Yeah we do, let's go," he said, gently pulling her down the steps. She followed him to the final one and snatched her hand away.

"He was sleeping with her wasn't he?" she asked. She'd never heard her voice so pathetic before. She was pathetic. Here she was heartbroken over this guy who she loved, who's ring she still wore on her finger and he was running around screwing some nun who didn't curse behind her back.

Jacob placed his hands on his hips and clenched his jaw, like he was the one that had the right to be upset. "Not exactly-"

"For how long? Did he love her? Why did he propose if he was screwing someone else? Who the fuck is this bitch?!" she snapped, trying to regain her composure but that probably wasn't going to happen for a while.

"Stop," Jacob said forcefully, staring down at her. "He loved you Leah, okay? He. Loved. You. With her, it was… different."

"Different how?" she asked. The only difference she saw was that one of them had a ring and the other had the number to some burner phone Sam never used.

"Different as in she was the mother of his child," he said with a small eye roll.

Leah shook her head, not sure she'd heard Jacob right.

"I'm sorry, the who?"

Jacob sighed as he looked up at the night sky. "The mother of his child. Leah… Sam has a daughter."

* * *

 **A/N: Decided to leave you guys on a cliffy for the next few days until I can update again.** **Thanks for the reviews, as always!**

 **p.s. I forgot to add this in the first chapter preface but Emily and Leah are NOT cousins in my interpretation of the world. They dont know each other in case you havent noticed.**


	7. Seven Eleven

Nothing puts a damper on your Saturday morning like learning your dead fiancé had a secret love child behind your back.

After Jacob dropped the bomb on her, all Leah could do was walk away like a zombie. She wasn't sure how long she'd left for but by the time she'd come back, the sun was up. She probably looked crazy, her hair askew from trying to sleep, dressed in Sam's old college clothes and wearing his robe and slippers, her eyes sunken in from lack of sleep, walking through the neighborhood and telling herself not to cry. She was certainly certifiable but it wasn't because of her own doing. A month ago, she had the right to seem a little off. Her fiancé had just died and she was mourning him but now she wasn't sure if she hated him or missed him still.

Sam had a kid.

A _kid._

She was supposed to be the one that gave Sam his first child and now there was some little girl running around with half of his DNA, not even realizing that her father was dead. She probably looked like him. Sam big dark eyes, same thick black hair. But what did this Emily girl look like? Was she cute? Leah bet she was considering how her voice sounded. People that cheery always were cute and she problem had dimples. She shook her head, wanting the thought to go away. She was never the type of girl who compared her beauty with another woman's and now she felt vulnerable and insecure because she was wondering what this girl had that she didn't that made Sam want her so badly. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't how she was supposed to grieve Sam. She was supposed to love him and miss him, not be pissed that he was dead because she'd love to kick him in the nuts.

She walked into the house, grateful that Seth was still asleep. She didn't want to wake him up and make him hate Sam. Seth and Sam had a good relationship like two brothers and she didn't want to take that away from Seth. He'd find out eventually but not from her right now. She ran her fingers through her hair and shuffled up the stairs, practically bumping into Embry.

"Morning, you're up early," he said with a smile.

"I didn't really sleep," she said, her voice monotone.

"Yeah that bed is pretty lumpy. Sam would complain about it all the time," he said cheerfully. Leah felt bile rise in her throat at the idea that the bed she was sleeping in now, could have been the same bed that Sam brought Emily. She shook the thought away because if she went down that road, she'd snap and that was the last thing she needed right now.

She vaguely heard him ask if she was okay considering she was drifting off and looked like a mad woman. She would love to talk to Embry about his morning and why he was up at the ass crack of dawn but she had enough on her plate and enough in her mind. So she brushed passed him to go into Sam's room but paused in front of Jacob's door. He knew more about her fiancé than she did and she wanted answers now. She opened the door, not bothering to knock and was slightly shocked to see him sitting on the side of the bed, his head in his hands.

"How long were they together?" she asked.

"Not long, trust me," he chuckled.

Leah glared at him. "You think this is a joke?!"

Jacob rolled his eyes, not in the mood as much as Leah was. "Obviously I don't think this is a joke. I'm just trying to relieve some tension, Jesus."

"You hated me that much?" she asked incredulously.

Jacob stood up and held up his hands to calm her down. "Look Leah—"

"No, you look," she pointed his way. "I know you think I'm a bitch or whatever but I didn't deserve this. I know we weren't friends but I dated Sam for four years, the least you could have done was, I don't know, tell him to stop fucking someone behind his loyal girlfriend's back!"

He was getting sick of being yelled at so when he shouted her name, it made her to jump. "Would you shut up and let me explain? God is this what it was like when you and Sam fought? You talked and talked and talked and he couldn't get a word in edge wise? No wonder he didn't tell you," he breathed, taking his seat back on the bed.

Leah wasn't expecting that but she still didn't say anything in response.

"Look, the kid is like 6. She happened way before you. Sam and Emily messed around one time and bam she got pregnant."

She felt shaky and wanted to balance against something but found placing her hand on her head helped. "How often did he see the little girl?"

"Every month," he said. "Whenever he had business trips in Seattle. He'd go see her."

Now she felt really sick like she might throw up or pass out, one or the other. "I can't believe he didn't tell me."

"He just didn't want you to know because it wouldn't fit into the perfect life you wanted so badly," Jacob muttered under his breath.

She rose an eyebrow in shock. " _My_ perfect life? I just wanted to be happy with him, that's all and he has a kid who I would have loved, I'm sure if he'd just told me."

"He was scared. He didn't wanna hurt you," Jacob explained.

"Did he also want you to hide his mail and burner phone from me too or did you just do that because today was lie to Leah day?" she challenged. "What was that letter anyways?"

He sighed and scratched at his jaw. "It was a bank statement..."

"Lemme guess. He had a second account for her too?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Jacob nodded slowly. "But he did all this to protect you. And we promised never to tell you."

Leah sucked in her lips and nodded slowly. "Yeah well, it would have been nice if _someone_ told me before he died instead of me finding out like this," She was over this conversation. It was too much to digest on little to know sleep and right now, all she wanted was to drink a bunch of Nyquil and conk out for the next few hours. She walked out of Jacob's room without another word and went back into Sam's, slamming the door behind her.


	8. Ate

The last time Leah was drunk was when she was 19.

It was a blurry night full of cheap beer and tequila shots that ended with her passed out in front of her house. The worst part was hearing a lecture from her mom the next morning while her head was threatening to explode and her stomach was trying to eject itself from her body. It was in that moment, she swore she'd never drink that much again. Of course she'd broken her promise a few times but it had never gotten that bad because as fun as being drunk was, the hangover was horrible. Dry mouth, raw eyes, even your skin hurt from the vibrations your voice made. She wouldn't wish it on her worst enemy and yet here she was at this corner bar throwing back shots like she was some hot shot with no responsibilities. At first she'd just come here for a beer or two and then she was going to finish the last of Sam's things before heading back to her own house, no matter how much the idea disgusted her. She really didn't want to be in that house and it was for a complete different reason than she'd had a few days ago. Before, she missed Sam too much and now everything reminded her of Sam in there. For some odd reason, she felt better in his old house with his roommates than at the home they shared together. Maybe it was because she felt like it was all a lie, like everything they set up together wasn't real. Even the beast seemed to be doing better at the guys' house. She asked Seth to get Duke and as soon as he brought the dog into the house, it was like Christmas morning for the guys. Especially Quil, who in her opinion, had an unhealthy attachment to the creature.

"Bartender, another one," she said, whirling her finger around in a circle and sliding her now empty shot glass his way.

"Maybe you need some water," he offered, reluctant to pour her another shot.

"Maybe you need to pour me another shot instead of trying to be my mother," she spat, spinning on her stool.

The tequila made her feel light and carefree which was something she hadn't felt in a long time. First, Sam died and now she found out he had a kid. A kid from when he was a kid. A kid that wasn't her kid. She scrunched her face up and forced herself to cry but no tears came, as usual.

"Damn it," she whined to herself. "Sonuvabitch was right. You push your emotions down and you become stunted. I can't even cry anymore."

She tried once again, squeezing her eyes closed tighter to find some type of emotion but right now all she found was anger. She turned to the older gentleman sitting next to her and sniffled. He had a thick white beard and beer belly that made him look almost jolly despite the grimace that was on his face and the paint that covered his clothes. Like a blue collar black Santa.

"I can't cry Black Santa," she said, accidently using the nickname she'd made up for him. "I bet you haven't cried in forever either huh?"

He turned towards her and Leah half expected him to yell at her but instead he shook his head with a small smirk. "Nah, I cry all the time. I just saw that Finding Dory movie with my granddaughter last week. Shit's real sad."

Leah found herself welling with emotion and nodded. "It is really sad."

"Crying is good for the soul sometimes. Makes it stronger by cleaning out all that junk you bury," he said wisely.

She nodded and quickly took her shot that the bartender had set out for her. "What if I like the junk Black Santa? What if the junk in my soul is my happy place?"

"Then it must not be a really happy place if all that junk's in there."

Leah blinked a few times, swallowing his words. "Oh my god, you're right. My junk is killing my soul. But I don't have anybody who accepts my junk. I had my fiancé but turns out he's a liar like everyone else."

Black Santa took a sip of his beer and breathed out, making his beard dance above his lip. "Everybody has somebody," he nodded. "Some people have lots of somebodies."

It could be because Leah was drunk or because she was stressed but everything Black Santa was saying made perfect sense. At least she thought she did considering she wasn't really sure what he was saying.

"You're like Jesus, Black Santa," she said, resting her head on his shoulder and reveling in the fact that he smelled of peppermint and paint. She could feel herself drifting off to sleep on his shoulder and she was thankful that he didn't move. She needed this sleep and just as she was about to completely get lost in the sauce, someone called her name.

"Leah?"

She sat up from Black Santa's shoulder and looked at the door, her eyes blurry. Either she was really drunk or dead because walking towards her was Sam.

"Sam?" she whispered. "You're alive?"

"Leah?" the ghostly figure said, coming into clear view. It wasn't Sam after all, it was Jacob and he looked slightly amused. "What the hell are you doing in this dive bar?"

"I was talking to Black Santa about my life and he was giving me good advice," she explained, pointing to the older man sitting next to her. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I was walking by." Jacob narrowed his eyes her way and held out a hand, seeing that she was obviously very drunk. "We should get you home."

"Ugh," she groaned loudly, pushing his hand away. "I don't wanna go to that house. It's a house full of lies and based on nothing but secrets."

"Leah…"

"It's true," she pointed at him. "My fiancé had a daughter that I didn't know about and he didn't tell me why?"

"Because he didn't wanna hurt you, I told you that."

"Incorrect," she slurred. "He didn't tell me because he didn't trust me and how could I be married to someone who didn't trust me?"

Jacob sighed. "Well you don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Right!" she snapped her fingers. "Because he's dead. Which makes me feel even worse because I loved that lying asshat… just leave me here Jake. I'll be fine. I know you don't care anyways."

"Look, are you my favorite person? No. But Sam did love you and when you weren't being a pain in my ass, I could see why."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "You're… loyal. You're strong. I mean you stick up for yourself whenever I give you shit. Not to mention you're beyond beautiful. Look, Sam was lucky. He didn't wanna lose you, that's why he didn't tell you. And because he loved you and he was like a brother, I'm kinda obligated to give a shit about you."

This was the most emotional she had ever seen Jacob since knowing him. Him saying that he cared about her, even if it was in a weird way warmed her heart a little.

But just a little.

Before long she was back in reality, remembering that Sam hid the fact that he had a child and Jacob helped him. "There you go again, cleaning up his messes," she said sadly. "No matter how much you tell me _why_ he didn't tell me, all I can hear is that he _didn't_ tell me. I would've understood… eventually."

Jacob stared at her, watching as she spun around in her stool and placed her head back on Black Santa's shoulder.

"Just leave me here with Black Santa. I'll be okay," she struggled to say. She waited a few seconds, waiting to hear Jacob leave the bar but he didn't, he just stood there, watching her. She could see out of the corner of her eye that he was debating something and she honestly hoped he wouldn't call Seth to help him get her out of there.

"Hey Jared, can you close out her tab and put it on mine," he nodded to the bartender. "And lemme get whatever's on tap."

"Sure thing," he said with a surprised look on his face.

Leah watched the exchange and looked between the two. How did he even know the bartender? "What are you doing?"

"I lost him too okay. I know it's different because he hid this thing from you but you're not the only one grieving him. So if you're gonna sit here and drink your sorrows away, then I'm gonna do the same," he said, taking a seat next to her. She lifted her head off of Black Santa's shoulder and watched as Jared slid a glass towards Jacob and he took a tentative sip.

"Sam told me you don't drink," she pointed out.

"I don't," he said with a grimace. "My dad was a drunk the first 10 years of my life. It turned me off of it."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I figure, if this is helping you, it can help me too," he said, struggling to take another swig of his beer.

She didn't know why he was doing this. They weren't friends and they didn't have much in common except that they both loved a guy that died on them.

"The day he died, we fought about you," she confessed, straightening in her seat. She was still nowhere near close to sober but the tequila was no longer making her feel carefree. Now she had every care in the world and she felt heavy with grief.

"What about?" he glanced her way.

"Vegas. He told me you wanted to drive him and the guys down to Vegas as a kind of road trip the week of the wedding and I told him no. I said I'd seen the Hangover enough times to know what happens," she chuckled. "He just wanted to spend time with his best friends and I made him choose. I always made him choose between you and me."

"You didn't have to," he said, facing her. "He always chose you no matter how much it annoyed me."

She watched him get ready to take another drink of his beer but she reached over to stop him as nausea washed over her.

"I think I'm gonna puke," she rushed out, her head spinning. This is what she got for getting drunk on an empty stomach.

"Oh come on, we were having an okay time and you gotta ruin it with sarcasm," he said.

"No, I mean literally. I think I'm gonna throw up. We should head back to the house."

"Thank god," he sighed, standing. "I thought you were gonna make me drink the whole thing."

Leah hopped off the stool and felt her world start to spin. How had she not passed out yet? She wasn't exactly a light weight when it came to drinking but she'd definitely had enough to put someone in the hospital. She steadied herself against the table and was about to call out to Jacob to see if she could use his arm to balance but as if he'd read her mind, he slipped his hand gently around her waist and helped her stand straight. They were at eye level because of the way he was holding her up and she never would have thought Jacob would ever look at her the way he was looking at her now. Like he cared. She placed her arm around his shoulder and smiled gently, following him as he led them out of the bar.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the delay. I'm still unpacking. Make sure you review if you liked this chapter. I wanna hear what you guys think!**


	9. Nien in the Afternoon

"Hair of the dog," Quil said, sliding her a seemingly normal glass of orange juice. Leah lifted it to her nose and winced as she smelled alcohol infiltrating her nostrils.

"Ugh," she gagged, shaking her head. "No thank you."

"You should drink it Lee," Seth said, grabbing a apple and pulling his bag over his head. "I cant believe you got wasted last night."

She placed her head on the cool countertop and let out a low groan. "Kiiill meeee," she whined. "My head is pounding. Why does your body turn something so great into something so evil?"

"Anatomy amirite?" Quil chuckled, pushing the glass closer to her. "Seriously, drink. It'll help. I can even make a tea my grandpa told me cures everything if this doesn't work."

"What kinda tea?" Seth asked.

"Ginger and hot sauce."

"That's gonna be a hard pass from me," Leah spoke up, reaching for a bottle of aspiring Quil put out for her.

Seth took a bite of his apple and placed a kiss on Leah's head. "Alright, I'll see you guys later."

"Where's my kiss?" Quil pouted playfully.

"Right here," Seth replied, giving him the finger.

Quil shook his head and continued to mix the bowl he'd been working on since Leah came downstairs. "That kid. Just… rude," he smiled, whipping the mixture faster. Each swipe of the spoon against the plastic bowl was like nails on a chalkboard right in Leah's ear.

"What the hell are you so noisily mixing over there?" she asked, shielding her ears.

"Waffles. You want some?"

Leah groaned in response.

"I'll take that as a no," he said, going over to the waffle maker.

"Don't you have a job?" She wondered why he was still home at 11 in the morning. Nearly everyone else had left aside from them.

"Yeah, I sub down at the elementary school and surprise, surprise, no one is sick. So I have the day off. What about you?"

"I work at the tourism office in Forks but I had some time off since the funeral. And honestly I'm not entirely sure I wanna go back. It wasn't like it was paying the bills, I was just there to be there."

Quil placed the bowl down on the table and clapped his hands, making her wince at the sharp sound. "Well since you and I are both playing hooky, why don't we go do it outside?"

"Do what?" she questioned.

"You'll see."

Fall was Leah's favorite time of year. Not only did she get to wear more clothes, which was her favorite hobby considering she hated being naked, but the way the air smelled just made her feel at ease even if everything around her was falling apart.

She inhaled into her scarf, smiling because it smelled like the last time she'd worn it. She'd gone to a bonfire with her family and Sam and they'd roasted marshmallows, told stories and Seth even gave a weak attempt at trying to tell a ghost story. She was so happy, probably the happiest she's ever been in her life aside from when she got engaged and only two weeks later, Sam died.

"Here," Quil said, handing her a penny as they walked around the park, Duke dragging him along happily. When he said he wanted to play hooky, she wasn't sure what he meant. Turns out it meant running a few errands and then walking Duke around the park for more than an hour.

"What's that for?"

"For your thoughts."

Leah rolled her eyes and stifled a laugh. "You cornball," she snorted, looking down at Duke's tail wagging rapidly. "The Beast loves you."

"And I love her," Quil said in a baby voice, patting Duke's head.

"Her?"

"Yeah," he said, looking up at her. "Did you think she was a boy?"

"Her name is Duke!" she gaped. She couldn't be the only one confused by the dogs gender.

Quil shrugged. "Unisex name."

"Why didn't he just name the damn thing Duchess?" Leah huffed, feeling a cool breeze blow against her face.

"It's Sam. He always likes doing things the hard way," he replied, his smile faltering a bit. Leah sometimes forgot that, like Jacob had said the night before, she wasn't the only person grieving him. His friends were too.

"You know, I never knew how you met the guys. I know he met Jake and Embry in school but Sam told me you've just known him forever," she said.

"Oh yeah," he nodded. "Sam worked for my Grandpa when he was in high school. We always kinda knew of each other but it wasn't until the old man passed that we really hung out."

"You lived with him? Your grandfather?"

"Yeah. My mom dropped me off on his doorstep when I was like 5 and never looked back. And I never knew my dad so Grandpa was the only parent I had growing up. It's been years but I still miss the guy. He was funny like funnier than me if that's possible. And I couldn't bring any girl around without him flirting with her. He was everything I ever wanted to be even if he was a dick sometimes. He loved Sam though. I'm kinda glad he wasn't around to be at his funeral because Sam was like another grandson to him." Quil was silent for a few moments before forcing a smile back on to his face and turning her way. "God, this is depressing. Wanna head home and I can make lunch?"

"Do you cook when you're upset?" she asked.

"Of course, I cope like Martha Stewart would. One time I got dumped and learned how to make macaroons. My heart was broken but my damn cookies we not," he said, throwing his fist into the air victoriously.

"Maybe I'll try your strategy over mine because I cant deal with another hangover," she said, rubbing her still tender head.

"Maybe you should," he smiled. "Food makes everything better. Except for your waist line."

"Such wise words," she smirked.

"I know. Damn I'm good."

* * *

 **A/N: I really love writing Leah spending time with the guys. More to come. Please review!**


	10. Tin

There was an eviction notice on her front door.

She'd been ignoring the calls from her landlord mostly because she really just didn't want to go back to being an adult. She liked not working and being at the house with the guys like she was one of them, like somehow this would make her understand Sam more or something. She knew this wasn't going to be her new normal and that reality was going to set in eventually but she wasn't ready and if she had to put her foot down and throw a tantrum until her responsibilities went away, then she would do just that.

Her mother was curious about what she was doing at Sam's old place but Leah didn't have an answer for her. She could try to explain it to Sue but she was overbearing and would just worry even more than she already was. Which was why Leah devoted an entire day to being with her mother, no matter how much it drove her crazy, to simply set her nerves at ease. Turns out that day turned into shopping for their weekly Sunday dinner and stopping by the police station to drop off leftovers to Chief Swan. Leah would be lying if she said she wasn't disgusted every time they were in a room together because they flirted like two teenagers. She could almost visibly see her mother's knees growing weak and at one unfortunate dinner, she was positive she spotted Charlie concealing a boner. Aside from the gross factor, she was happy for her mother. It was weird and she wouldn't want her mom dating the god damn police chief but at least she was happy and she deserved it. Leah just didn't want to get dragged into their lovers rendezvous.

"Mom, I can wait in the car," Leah said, watching her mom get out with a Tupperware container full of baked chicken and vegetables.

"I'll only be five minutes and I'm sure Charlie would like to see you," Sue said with a smile.

"And I'd like to blow my brains out instead of seeing you two canoodle."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," she said quickly, getting out the car. "I'm coming."

The last time she was in this police station, she was 17 and pissed because she'd been arrested for just a small baggie of weed. She knew her mom was going to lose her shit when they got down there to pick her up. And just as she'd guessed, she was right. Her mom had yelled the entire way home about how irresponsible she was and wanting to know where she'd gotten the weed and why she thought drugs were the way to go when they had taught her differently. It was her mother's typical spiel and as per usual, Leah ignored it and counted down the seconds before she could get to her room. But what wasn't usual was her dad making her stay outside with him to talk while her mother continued to rant inside the house. Her dad wasn't the disciplinarian. In fact, he was the fun dad. He laughed when you did something wrong but that night, he'd talked to her more sternly than she'd ever been spoken to before. He wasn't just mad that his teenager had drugs, no matter how gentle they were, but he was pissed because she was speeding. It was in that moment that she realized she truly respected her father because he wasn't just yelling because he was mad or disappointed. He was upset because he was scared that she'd put herself in danger and to this day, Leah never forgot that conversation.

"Charlie, hi!" Sue said, her voice squeaking slightly. "We were in the neighborhood and we decided to bring you some lunch."

"Hi there Leah," he nodded her way before taking the container and peeking inside. "Aw thanks Sue, is this from last night?" he asked.

"Last night?" Leah questioned. How often were these two seeing each other?

"Yes," Sue replied, ignoring her daughter. "I know how much you liked it so I figured why not…"

Leah had never seen her mother act like this before probably because she'd never been subjected to her parents courting each other. Although from what she heard it was more along the lines of her father smooth talking her mom into a date.

"Thank you," Charlie said. "Oh come meet my daughter. She's here visiting with her husband for a little bit and I think she mentioned going to school with Leah."

Leah fought an eye roll and shrugged. "I didn't even know you had a daughter," she lied.

"Yup. Follow me," he said, leading them to his office.

Leah followed behind her mother, her teeth grinding because the last person she wanted to talk to was Bella fucking Swan. Call it an old grudge that needed to be buried or what have you but Leah knew fake when she saw it and she didn't want to deal with it.

Her saving grace came in the form of Jacob, sitting at a desk and doodling intensely on a notepad. She never thought she'd ever think it but thank god Jake was there.

"Hey I'll catch up Mom, Jake is over there and I'm gonna say hi," she said, not waiting for a response before shuffling over to his desk. She stared over his shoulder, watching as he erased and redrew a nose on to the sketch of a man. He was pretty good, she'd give him that but she could tell from how close his face was to the sketch pad that he was a perfectionist.

"You're in my light," he said before looking up at her. "Oh. What are you doing here?"

"My mom is boning the chief. Who's this?" she asked, taking a seat next to him.

"Some jackass that broke into an old lady's house and gave her a scare. Did you just say your mom and Chief Swan are dating?"

Leah nodded. "Sadly. It's like your mom dating the principle when you're in high school and you cant escape it. He's been to every Sunday dinner for the past month and I wanna scream."

"Aww but I bet it's cute," he teased, earning a glare from her.

"That nose is crooked," she shot back, pointing down at the sketch.

"That's not funny." Even so, he still glanced down at the picture and scribbled a little shading on the nose. "You coming back to the house tonight?"

Leah rose an eyebrow in shock. Could it be? Did Jacob Black like having her around? "Aww are you scared you wont see me anymore?"

"Nah, I just wanna know since I have a date and I didn't tell her about the new chick that lives in the room next to mine. I don't want her to have to worry. She's the jealous type."

Leah made a face. "Oh trust me she wont have to. Could this date at all be Bella Swan?" she asked. "Isnt she married?"

Jacob clenched his jaw tightly and she could see the muscle flexing through his skin. It must have been a sore subject for him because by the time he spoke, his voice had deepened and his eyes grew dark. "Unhappily married but yeah. And which one of the guys told you?"

"That you're sleeping with a married woman? None of them but you just did," she smirked. "I heard you two had a past. Still doesn't explain why she's sleeping with you and then going home to her husband."

"Not everything is black and white Leah," he said through nearly clenched teeth.

She bobbed her head. "Yeah, not everything is but this is pretty obviously. If she doesn't wanna leave her husband, you're nothing but side dick that she cant seem to give up. Give yourself more credit than that." She didn't know why she was so invested in this. She knew Jacob was kinda sleezy but this was a new low. Maybe it was because she'd gotten to know him in the weeks she'd been staying at his house and she realized he wasn't as bad as she always thought he was.

Jacob shrugged a shoulder as he leaned back into his seat. He was tense and she could tell he hated this line of questioning. "You ever think I'm just sleeping with her for shits and giggles? She doesn't even live here anymore."

"But when she comes back you lose it, don't you? If you still love her, fine. But you sleeping with her, interfering in her marriage will do nothing but hurt you in the end."

"You always this candid with all your friends?" he glared, slightly annoyed.

"No but thank god we aren't friends."

"Well since we're not friends, why don't you mind your damn business because from where I'm sitting, you've got a lot more issues to work out than I do," he spat.

Leah recoiled as if she'd been slapped in the face and pressed her back into her seat. He wasn't wrong, she did have issues to work out but she didn't need to be reminded of them, especially from Jacob. She knew there were things about Sam's life she didn't know and she could only hide from them for so long before they came bubbling up. She opened her mouth to speak and maybe remind Jake that he was an ass but before she could, giggling came bubbling out of the chief's office.

"Jake!" a voice called, making Leah wince. God, even her voice annoyed her and sadly it hadn't even changed in the 8 years since high school.

"Hey Bells," Jacob said, tearing his eyes away from Leah and turning to her.

"Hey," she said, looking down at Leah and tilting her head until she could get a good look at her face. "Leah Clearwater."

"Hi Bella," Leah said, turning around and forcing a smile on to her face.

"Your mom told me you were out here but I didn't know you knew Jake."

"Yeah we live together," she blurted out. Why did she say that? It wasn't like it was a lie but it also wasn't exactly the truth.

Red suddenly stained Bella's cheeks and she nodded, crossing her legs. "Oh? I didn't know you two were…"

"No Bells, she was Sam's fiance," Jacob explained.

Her cheeks were red again, this time from embarrassment. "Oh. Ohhhh god. I'm really sorry for your loss. I heard about Sam. Aneurism. So awful. He was always so nice to me."

Leah cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. "Turns out he was a liar so don't feel that bad," she said angrily and stood. "I should go. I have a lot of issues to work out, right Jake?"

Jacob looked away from her fiery stare and honestly, she didn't care. _Go ahead_ , she thought, _screw your married ex for all I care_. She was simply trying to be nice and give some life advice and this was what she got for it. She walked away from a lost looking Bella and Jacob before pushing her way out of the station.

"Leah?" her mom called, at a loss.

"Let's just go, okay," she said, getting into the car and slamming her door shut.

* * *

 **A/N: So we're getting to see that even though Leah and Jacob are becoming friends, they will ALWAYS argue. In fact I just finished writing a chapter that I know for a fact you guys will all like! Also Bella has made her appearance and as you can see her and Jacob's past is... complicated. This story is going to be longer than I expected but I'm sure no one has a problem with that. :) MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW!**


	11. Eggo Waffles

Leah didn't know why she let Jacob get to her so much. Maybe she was being a bit too nosy or overbearing or whatever but it was because she thought he deserved better than Bella fucking Swan. Granted, a lot of her distaste from the woman came from something stupid that happened back in high school but Leah was known to hold a grudge and seeing that someone that was close to Sam was dealing with her, gave her a migraine. That and Jacob was nice to her when she got wasted at the bar and she figured why not return the favor? If she knew he'd bite her head off when she did, she would have kept her opinion to herself.

She honestly felt like shit when she got home and she didn't know whether she wanted to hit something or scream or even worse, cry because he was right. God, she had so much crap she had to deal with and all she wanted was to deal with Sam's death without all this interference and she couldn't even do that properly. She hated this. She hated that Jacob was right about something and she hated that he was going to be smug about it when he saw her again.

She hadn't been this angry in a while and to relieve some tension, she went on a run through the woods. If it weren't for how delirious she was with so many emotions, she would have thought about how stupid it was to run in the thick ass woods at night. There could be wolves out there for god's sake and the last thing she wanted was to be wolf chow. But the run did make her feel better and she considered running more often to relieve some stress. By the time she got home, all she wanted was to go home and shower. So when she got home, she waved to the guys and hoped Seth didn't suspect anything and went ran upstairs. She was surprised to see Jacob's bedroom door closed since he supposedly had a date tonight but she wasn't going to ask questions. She didn't care.

Her shower put her at ease and despite still being ticked at Sam, his pajamas made her feel even better. She put her damp shoulder length hair into a lose top knot and reached for her lotion when there was a knock on the door.

"Yeah," she said, lotioning her hands. She was expecting Seth or Embry or hell even Quil. She wasn't expecting Jacob.

"Hey," he said sadly.

"God, I'm too tired to fight Jake," she stood up, placing her lotion on the dresser. She'd just gotten rid of some of her tension, she didn't want to have to go on another run to keep herself from choking Jacob.

He walked into the room and shut the door before taking a step towards her. "I'm not here to fight, okay? I'm here to apologize."

Leah froze, her hands still slick with lotion and turned to stare at him. "You what?"

"I'm sorry, alright? I shouldn't have said what I said. I was pissed because you were partially right and you were pushing buttons I didn't want pressed and… shit Leah, you and I say mean things to each other all the time," he shrugged, fluffing the hair on the back of his head. "But what I said was below the belt. I shouldn't've brought that shit up."

She breathed out slowly and turned to face him, resting her shoulder against the tall dresser. "Maybe I shouldn't've been poking around in your business when I have my own shit blowing up in my face. Especially since I was a little biased."

Jacob nodded his head with a smirk. "Yeah, Bella told me you two have history. Something about a Jasper Hale?"

Leah gasped and quickly did the cross sign over her chest. "El diablo is what he was. You ever met anyone from Texas?"

"Nope," he shook his head, amused.

"Be glad. He was the worst thing to ever happen to 15 year old me."

"So you both dated him?"

She shook her head and turned to put her lotion away. "I'm not talking about this with you."

"Oh come on Leah," he pouted. "You know about me and Bells. I think it's only fair you tell me about Jasper."

Leah did another sign of the cross over her chest. "Stop saying his name! It's bad juju."

"If you tell me I'll leave you alone," he bargained.

She let out a sigh and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Jasper and I dated my freshman year of high school until my junior year. He was cool and charming and had an accent and all the girls liked him but he liked me. So we dated. And then Bella came to town and I tried being friendly with her because people treated new girls like freaks then and for a while, we were something like friends. And then junior year happened."

"Junior year?"

"It's like that weird moment of puberty where all the girls get their braces off and learn how to curl their hair a little better. Basically Bella realized she was pretty and nothing could stop her then. Jasper started sleeping with her while he was still with me and it all went downhill after that. I never dated anyone in high school again. In fact I didn't date anyone again until Sam."

"It hurt you," Jacob stated.

"Yeah. Yeah it did. I don't know if you know this but I'm not exactly the most likable person in the world and it was even worse when I was younger. I lacked a filter and I was lanky and awkward and not in the cute way Bella tries to do it but in the authentic way. I think I was more hurt that I tricked myself into thinking I could be the girlfriend, ya know? I guess I have a habit of doing that; tricking myself into thinking I'm okay when I'm not," she said sadly, staring down at her hands. She spun her ring around her finger before clearing her throat. "Anyways, I hated Bella Swan because she snatched Jasper Hale right from under me. I've moved on from it though."

"Clearly," Jacob chuckled. "You know you weren't right about one thing."

"What was that?"

"I'm not still in love with her. We sleep together, yeah and it's nice and all but when Bella left me, it made me feel like shit and when I found out she got married to Edward, it was like a knife in my chest. She would do this thing where she'd play me like a fiddle. Promise me she still loved me, cared about me, didn't wanna see me hurt but then would intentionally hurt me. It was like this weird game we played and I was a willing participant. I think that's why I was so against Sam and you getting married because I was scared he'd go through what I went through."

"So you did hate me?" she asked gently, her eyes never leaving his. She knew the answer, there was no need to even ask it.

Jacob nodded his head reluctantly. "Yeah. Yeah I did. But even though I was afraid marriage would kill the Sam I knew, I saw that he was beyond in love with you. He was scared but he would do anything for you and me being a selfish dick, I thought you threatened our friendship because I thought you were like her. So I guess I'm sorry for that too."

Leah chuckled and glanced down at her engagement ring. "I'm sorry you felt like I took him away from you. I might have been his fiancee but you were his best friend. I could never take that place."

He dipped his head and for a split second, Leah thought she heard a sniffle. Thankfully it was her ears playing tricks on her because by the time Jacob looked up, he had a smirk on his face. "God, Bella really thought you and I were living together. She yelled at me after you left, you know?"

Leah gasped mockingly. "What? Bella Swan can yell? I am in shock."

"Oh yeah she can scream… especially when I have her turned over-"

"Nope!" she interrupted him, wishing she could wash the images forming in her head.

"Just kidding," he winked, taking a step backwards to open the door. "By the way, this is a truce right?"

"Yeah. It's a truce," she rolled her eyes. "Oh hey Jake?"

"Yeah?" he turned around just as he was leaving the room.

"You think I could move in until I get my issues worked out?"

Jacob scoffed, his hand on the door knob. "I thought you already lived here."

* * *

 **A/N: My apologies to anyone from Texas. :) Now we know Leah and Bella's past. I wonder what their future interactions will be since their parents are dating... hmmmm**

 **PLEASE REVIEW! :)**


	12. Noon

Leah sat across from Debra, a tea cup in her hand as Sam's mother went on and on about how hard it has been without her son around. It wasn't that Leah wasn't compassionate, she understood where the woman was coming from. If anything she understood better than anyone else where she was coming from. She was just still in limbo about Sam since finding out he had a daughter. She loved him, yes but the way Debra was going on, as if he the second coming, it was making her uncomfortable. Maybe it was because she'd found out that Sam wasn't perfect and that he had this secret he was keeping from everyone or maybe it was because she was pretty sure, she used to sound just like Debra, singing Sam's praises as if the worst thing he could do was leave his dirty clothes laying around. She kissed the ground he walked on and honestly, it made her sick to think about now.

She'd just come over to drop off a few of Sam's things that she'd cleaned out of his room in the process of moving her own stuff in. And while she'd meant for this visit to be brief, Debra had sucked her into a conversation about Sam and now she was seated, drinking crappy tea and trying not to burst at the seams.

"I guess I just never imagined I'd ever bury my baby boy," Debra said sadly, taking a sip of her tea. "After his father and I split up, it was just us and I always thought he'd bury me before I buried him. And when he told me he was proposing to you all I could think about was you joining our family and starting one of your own."

"I was excited," Leah confessed. It wasn't a lie, she was excited to marry Sam before she found out about Emily and the kid. He was the love of her life and she wasn't sure how she was going to be able to move ahead with her life without him, now she was just trying to pick up the pieces.

"And you would have been such a beautiful bride," the older woman smiled, standing up to place her tea cup in the sink. "What will you do with your dress?"

Leah shrugged. "Sell it maybe. I could use the money."

"Honey, even though you and Sammy didn't get married, I still consider you like a daughter. You're kind of like the only family I have now. If you need anything, I can help."

Leah shook her head. "No, no. I'm okay. I mean I just have so me old bills I should pay off but I'll be fine. In fact I'm moving slash already have moved so I'll be downsizing."

Debra hummed and took her seat back at the table. "Where will you be headed? Back into your mom's?"

"No actually I'll be with my little brother, Seth. He moved into Sam's old house with Jacob, Quil and Embry."

"And you'll be there too?" she questioned, knitting her brows together in worry.

"Yeah," Leah bobbed her head, taking a sip of her cup.

Debra seemed like she wanted to say more and Leah was just waiting for her to let whatever snobby thing she had to say off her chest. She always was like that, inserting her opinion when it wasn't needed. Leah never had an issue with her as far as them arguing but that was the one thing she absolutely hated about Debra; her need to impress people who didn't matter.

"Do you think that's wise? A single woman in a house with four men?"

Leah was taken aback by her statement and leaned back into her seat. "Well one of those men is my little brother and they were all Sam's best friends so... I feel pretty safe if that's what you're worried about."

"Well you might feel safe but what will people think? Sam just died, you wouldn't want to have people gossiping about some kind of love shack at that house."

"Are you joking?" Leah gaped, placing her tea cup back down. "Pardon my French but I really don't give a shit what people think. I'm happy in that house. It's weird but I love those guys and Sam loved those guys too. They were his best friends."

"Maybe I'm old school but cant you see how bizarre it is that you aren't moving back in with your mother?"

Leah blinked a few times. "I'm an adult, I don't need to move back in with my mother."

Debra smiled tightly and Leah knew she wanted to say more but she knew when to pick her battles.

"I should get going," Leah said, pushing herself away from the table and standing. She didn't want things to be tense between them, especially with all the new information Leah had about Sam and she wondered if Debra knew. "Before I leave, can I ask you a question."

"Of course honey."

"Did you know if Sam had any friends in Seattle? Or if he ever mentioned someone named Emily?"

Debra looked up, trying to jog her memory and shook her head. "No. I don't think so. He went to Seattle occasionally for work I believe but not that often. Why? What's going on?"

"Nothing, nothing," she lied. "I was just wondering. I got a letter from an Emily and I just figured it might have been for Sam. Like an old college friend or an ex or something. Forget I asked."

"Okay," Debra nodded, walking around the table to pull Leah into a hug. "Honey, I didn't mean to upset you. I was just concerned. I know after Sammy's father and I split up, I did a lot of irrational things in order to cope and I just didn't want to see you go down that lane."

"I wont," she assured her. "I don't think the people around me would let me."

"Good," she said, kissing her cheek. "Make sure you stop by soon. I miss seeing your beautiful face even if I can be snobby sometimes."

Leah didn't want to lie and act like Debra couldn't be a snob so instead, she nodded.

"I will. I promise."

"And you'll call me if you need anything?" the older woman asked.

"Yes," Leah nodded, hoping to pacify Debra. As she left the house, she realized that while Debra could be snobby and had practically annoyed her with her talk of how great Sam was, it hit her that the woman was just lonely without her son around. He was the only man in her life and when he died, so did all of the joy in her life and it made Leah sad for her. But if made her even sad for herself because she realized that had she not had her family she'd be in the same spot; lonely and desperate for Sam back. And for the first time in a while, as Leah made her way back home, she was grateful for her family because without them, she didn't know where she'd be.

* * *

 **A/N: Filler or actual chapter? A little bit of both. Debra will be making an appearance again but before she did, I wanted everyone to get a little understanding of her personality. That, and yeah this chapter was a filler because I like spacing things out haha.**

 **MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW AS ALWAYS! IT MEANS A LOT!**


	13. Friday the 13th

Leah was eating more candy then she was giving out.

She kept reminding herself that the candy was for the kids who would show up dressed like their favorite person but honestly, just sitting around and watching Halloween themed movies was boring her. She had the option to go out, in fact Quil and Seth had practically begged her to come out with them to some Halloween party thrown but one of Seth's classmates but she figured, she was too old for college parties and she just wasn't up for it. Jacob, surprisingly was the next one to ask her if she wanted to head out. He had mentioned some party down at the station but she had a feeling he was going to meet up with a date after and she didn't wanna tag along for that. So it was just her, the random kids coming to the door begging for candy and Hocus Pocus playing in the background. It wasn't until Embry came jogging down the stairs, did she realize he hadn't gone with Quil and Seth like she assumed.

"Hey," she said, stuffing another peanut butter cup into her mouth. "I thought you were going to the party with Seth and Quil."

"Nah," he shook his head, sitting next to her and reaching into the bucket to grab a piece of candy. "I couldn't figure out a costume and then I realized I just wanted to sit at home and drink pumpkin flavored beer."

"Ew. Sounds awful," she frowned. "I wanna try one."

He laughed and took a bite of his twizzler. "You just said 'ew'. Why would you ask to try one?"

"Because I like beer and it's Halloween," she shrugged.

"Alright," he sighed, standing up and going into the kitchen to retrieve their beers. He came back with two and tossed one to Leah before retaking his seat. "Why didn't you go out?"

"The brats needed candy," she said, shaking her bucket of candy to prove her point. "Also I didn't have a costume and I didn't wanna go through the effort of thinking up one that I was just going to hate when I looked at pictures of myself a few years from now."

Embry rose an eyebrow and nodded. "Wow, your pessimism extends that far into the future? I'm impressed."

"It takes a lot of practice," she said proudly, tossing the wrapper into the pile she'd created next to her.

He looked down at the pile and made a face, trying to contain his laughter. "Uh…Did you eat all of that candy?"

"No!" she scoffed, using her foot to scoot the evidence away from her. "Okay, yes but the kids stopped coming and I wasn't going to let good candy go to waste! Also I was hungry."

"Now that you say it, I'm kinda hungry too."

"If only Quil was here to make us dinner," Leah joked. "Seriously, why can he cook so well? The dude is like Martha freaking Stewart."

"He used to have to cook for his grandfather when he got too sick to do it for himself and despite dying, Old Quil still found a way to complain about his grandson's cooking," he laughed lightly. "I remember going over one time and hearing them argue because Quil hadn't seasoned the steaks right."

"So he's good because his dying grandpa would insult him? I'm genuinely sad I never met this guy," she said just as her stomach growled in hunger.

Embry paused for a moment, staring at her in shock, before standing up. "Alright. I'm ordering pizza. What do you want on it?"

"Anything but green peppers," she called.

"Great because I'm allergic," he stated, tapping away at his phone.

A half an hour later they were seated in front of the television, watching Casper, a now warm pizza open on the table in front of them. Leah had underestimated her hunger and she was sure Embry had too because she'd already eaten three slices. Either she was pregnant and suddenly eating for two or her period was on it's way and her stomach was becoming a bottomless pit as always.

"I wonder if ghosts are real," Embry thought out loud, taking a bite of his pizza.

"I dunno," Leah shrugged, reaching for a napkin to wipe her mouth. She was tempted to snatch another slice but forced herself not to. She'd regret it in the morning. "But I know that when people die, you can still feel them. I remember when my Dad died, I could almost still feel him around. It could all be made up by my mind because I was 17 and grieving but, who knows?"

"Do you still feel Sam around?" he asked, causing her to go silent. Leah didn't know why that question had thrown her off. It wasn't like she was opposed to talking about Sam's death. She talked about it often in fact but for some reason, Embry's question slapped her in the face with reality, like she'd forgotten that this pain she felt wasn't normal and that she'd lost someone. "Sorry I don't even know why I asked that."

"No," she stopped him. "It's okay….I mean at his funeral, I felt like he was with me but since then, I don't feel anything anymore and it's been months.."

His eyes studied her face before he placed his half eaten slice of pizza down and turned his body towards hers. "If you ever wanna talk Leah, I'm a good listener and I don't judge."

She appreciated what he was trying to do. Since she was so used to so many people pushing conversations about her emotions, it was a breath of fresh air to have Embry leave the door open and give her the power to decide if she walked through it.

"Thank you," she smiled softly. "But I'm kinda tired of talking. It's been months since he died and I'm still trying to find my footing and honestly, talking isn't helping at all, contrary to popular belief."

That, and it was hard to face your own emotions when they felt like a weight on your chest. She chose not to tell him that because being vulnerable wasn't in the cards for her right now, no matter who it was with. She just needed to get through the day and pray to whoever would listen that she could do it all over again tomorrow without losing her mind.

"Well, like I said, I'm all ears. And I'll always have shitty beer that you'll wanna drink. Whenever."

"Thanks," she nodded, reaching for another slice. What was it Quil had said a few weeks ago, food makes everything better? Well he'd better be right.

* * *

 **A/N: Happy Halloween everybody! Yay for candy and punny costumes that have nothing to do with the current political climate. haha sorry for the long wait for an update, I try to update every few days but I just started a new job and it's kinda crazy so.. but here we are. A bit of a filler but chill Leah is my favorite Leah.**

 **Please review!**


	14. Four Teens

Leah was always a fan of people watching.

She would go to the park and just stare as people walked by and had conversations among themselves.

It was her bread and butter.

Sometimes, when she was younger, she would make up entire conversations between two people. They could be talking about gas prices or the economy for all she knew but their conversations were always about random things that peeked her interest. Which was why, she was role playing her own crazy life on to an unsuspecting couple, watching their daughter play. At first it was funny and she just had them talking about dinner but then it got dark and they were arguing about the fact that the little girl on the swing set wasn't really their child but another faceless woman's child.

Leah had to stop herself and take a breather.

She felt like a crazy woman and she'd only come to Port Angeles because she was meeting her boss from the traveling agency. He let her know whenever she wanted to come back, the job was hers but she honestly wasn't ready to come back yet. It had been a few months but the timing just wasn't right for her to continue her life like August hadn't been the hardest month of her life. Right now, she didn't want to be an adult. She wanted to live in her shoe box house with her 4 dwarves and be Snow White minus the murder and necrophilia.

So Leah spent the day walking around the city. It was so much different than her own home. Way more shops, a lot more Starbucks. She stopped into a Home Goods store and picked up a few things, mostly for Quil considering he was their resident Martha Stewart. She even got him an apron so he wouldn't get his clothes messy while baking cookies.

It was bizarre, losing someone so close to her like Sam and then gaining these 3 other people that she wound up giving a shit about. Especially since she had this idea in her head of who they were, as she was sure they thought the same about her, and they ended up proving her ideas wrong.

Especially Jacob.

She hated to admit it but he wasn't the worst. He was still a pig and he still constantly said things that got under her skin but she wasn't completely repulsed by him anymore. And even more so, she could see little bits of Sam in him. Or maybe it was little bits of Jacob that was in Sam that she never noticed. Either way, a part of her understood their friendship. They balanced each other out and they understood each other probably better than anyone else.

"What are you doing?"

Leah practically jumped out of her skin and spun around, spilling her coffee on Jacob as he tapped her shoulder. Speak of the devil and he shall appear, she thought.

"Jesus! What are you doing?" she asked, clutching her chest.

He looked as casual as he always did with his typical jeans and t-shirt attire but this time, he tossed on a flannel, most likely to shield him from the cool November air. He looked like an evil lumberjack if she was being honest.

"I just asked you that," he smirked, making her want to hit him.

"I'm taking a walk in the park," she said nonchalantly.

"In Port Angeles?" he frowned.

Leah waved her hand dismissively. "I had a meeting. Your turn. Why are you here?"

"My dad lives here," he shrugged, looking down at his soiled t-shirt. "What if this was expensive and you just spilled your PSL on me."

Leah rolled her eyes and handed him one of the napkins she was using to shield her hand from the heat of the coffee. "One, it's a black coffee and two that shirt isn't expensive," she said. "Your dad doesn't live on the Rez?"

"Nah," Jacob shook his head, taking the napkin and dabbing at the wet stain. "After Mom died, he couldn't take it. Moved out here. I was on my way to go see him actually… hey, wanna come?"

"You want me to meet your dad?" she rose an eyebrow.

"Not like that," he corrected. "I want an excuse for why I have to leave early. He doesn't buy the whole 'gotta go Quil needs me' thing anymore."

Leah narrowed her eyes and nodded. "So you want me to go so you can use me?"

"Yes."

At least he was honest. "Why would you need an excuse to leave your dad?"

Jacob groaned. "You ask too many questions."

"You don't give enough answers," she quipped. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Jacob finally gave in.

"Because we're not close and I only go see him once every few weeks, happy? Now will you please come with me so I can use you as an excuse?"

Leah debated whether or not she wanted to go with Jacob. On one hand, she was curious about Jacob's father. She'd heard stories from Sam but she wanted to meet the guy in the flesh but on the other hand… well there was no other hand because she had nothing better to do.

"Ask nicely," she crossed her arms.

"Leah," he warned.

She ignored him. "Ask nicely or I wont be your excuse. And you have to buy me dinner tonight. I forgot to go food shopping."

"What?!" he gasped.

"Say it," she pointed her finger.

"Fine," he said through clenched teeth. "Leah, will you pretty please come with me to my dad's?"

"And you'll buy me food?"

"And I will buy you food."

"Of course I will go with you Jake, what are friends for," she said, patting his shoulder. "My car or yours?"

"I have my bike and it's not really the best version of transportation for passengers, so your car."

Leah shrugged. "Fine by me. I'd prefer to have a get away option anyways," she teased, reaching into her bag and pulling out her car keys. "Come along Jacob. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can eat."

"You know, you're making me regret this decision," he shook his head, following behind her.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi everyone! This was a short chapter but it's only because I had to split this chapter and the next chapter because it ended up being waaaayyy too long. So, I'm sorry this is so short but I make up for it next chapter. Thanks for reviewing and make sure you review this chapter and tell me what you think! I love feedback.**


	15. Quince

Leah parked in front of a small ranch style home and slid her hands off of the steering wheel with a sigh.

"So this is where Old Man Black lives?" she asked, staring at the house. It was small but looked homey, like you would want to come here more often than every few weeks the way Jacob did.

"No one calls him Old Man Black," Jacob scoffed with a small eye roll. "Billy. Everyone just calls him Billy."

Leah frowned at his tone but decided to keep going with her line of questioning. For someone who was having a favor being done for them, he sure was acting like a jerk. "Okay… What else do I need to know?"

"Don't talk about politics or religion, you know that kinda thing. Use your house training Leah," he said, earning a punch in the chest. "Ow! And don't hit me in there."

"If you keep being a smart ass I'll do more than hit you," she warned. "Anything else?"

Jacob rubbed at his sore chest and nodded. "Yeah he'll try and talk to you about my sisters especially since you're around their age. I'll try and stop him but it can become a snooze fest really fast."

"Wait, you have sisters?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah two older sisters both of which hate my old man."

"Does this have anything to do with his drinking?"

"It has everything to do with his drinking. Like I said, he was a mean drunk. My sisters never forgave him. I did."

Leah had no idea what it must have been like for Jacob, growing up. She was blessed to have a healthy family with two parents that loved her, even if at times it felt like they were suffocating her. "You know for an asshole-"

"Here we go," he groaned, rolling his eyes once more.

"-you have a lot of compassion for people. It's surprising."

Jacob turned his body so that he could look at her better and a small smile formed on his lips. "Careful Leah. That sounds eerily like a compliment."

Leah looked over at him and scoffed. Yes, she didn't think he was the scum of the earth anymore but she wasn't going to let him know her views of him had changed. "It's not. Let's go."

She got out of the car and adjusted her coat before locking the car doors. Jacob was already jogging up towards the door and ringing the doorbell. He turned around, waiting for her to walk up the ramp towards his father's door.

"Hey Jake," she muttered, making sure she locked her car doors again. "What's with the ramp? Is your dad in a wheelchair or something?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the door swung open and an older man pushed himself towards the entrance, a grimace on his face. "I'm in a wheelchair as much as you are observant," he said, cocking his head to the side.

"Hey Billy. Leah meet Billy, Billy meet Leah," Jacob said, patting his father on the shoulder before walking into the house.

Leah was at a loss for words. Did she apologize? Had she done something wrong? Why did he make her feel like she'd done something wrong, like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and why the hell had Jacob left her standing out there alone?

"Jacob hasn't brought a girl home in a long time," he said, sizing her up.

Leah suddenly felt vulnerable and began to fidget. "Jacob and I are NOT together," she corrected.

"This is Sam's girl, Dad," Jacob called from somewhere in the house.

"Oh," Billy said, his face softening. "Well nice to meet you and I'm so sorry for your loss. Come on in."

Leah nodded and walked into the house, taking in the minimal amount of decorations but the ridiculous amount of pictures on the walls.

"So is that what it takes to come into the house? A dead fiance?" she joked.

Billy fought back a smile before shaking his head. "No but it sure does help. You kids thirsty?" he asked, shutting the door and wheeling himself to the kitchen.

"Nah," Jacob said, coming out of the kitchen with an apple in hand. "We cant stay long. Leah needs to eat."

Billy shrugged a shoulder. "Oh I have food here. I can whip something up for you. It wont be that great but it'll be edible."

"You don't have to," Leah chimed in. "Really besides Jake owes me food anyways. I don't want him to think this gets him out of it."

The older man's lips curved into a smirk. "I like her… how about some soup? It'll hold you over until you leave."

"Dad," Jacob said more forcefully. "We cant stay long."

Billy dropped his head and Leah suddenly felt words bubbling out of her mouth. Jacob was going to hate her for this but his father looked lonely. The least they could do was give him a little bit of company.

"I mean, we can wait to eat. I could go for soup," she suggested.

"You could?" Jacob asked through clenched teeth.

She bobbed her head quickly. "Yeah, besides, it's your dad. You only get one. Why not spend as much time as you can with him?"

Billy's grin returned as he pushed himself towards the kitchen. "Oh I really like her."

Leah was right behind him but stumbled when Jacob pulled her back and glared down at her. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Look, we spend half an hour, tops. You get out of buying me dinner and your dad gets a little more time with his son."

"Should I make tortilla or chicken noodle?" Billy shouted from the kitchen, pots and pans being slammed around.

"Which should he make Jake, because I'm really feeling tortilla," she whispered, her eyes never leaving his. He looked as if he was about to say no and she knew, he wanted to say no but she was going to try like hell to convince him otherwise. Before long, she watched as his shoulders slowly slumped down and he finally let go of her arm as he took a step back.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, softer this time, his eyes questioning Leah.

She didn't have an answer for him. She didn't know why she was doing any of this. She didn't know Billy, she didn't know his history with his children aside from a few tidbits she'd heard. And yet she felt compelled to stay because if it were her father, she would want to stay with him too.

"I really like soup," she replied simply.

Jacob chuckled breathlessly, as if he were dealing with a toddler, before he nodded. "Half an hour," he said tensely, his fun demeanor disappearing and being replaced with one of anxiety.

"Tops," she finished with a nod, before heading into the kitchen.

"And when I say we're leaving…"

"I will hand you the damn keys," she winked, making sure to head into the kitchen before Jacob could change his mind.

"Everything okay?" Billy asked, holding up two cans of soup.

Leah bobbed her head. "Everything will be perfect as soon as I get some tortilla soup in my stomach."

* * *

Leah hadn't expected to actually enjoy spending the evening with Jacob and his father but she had. She'd laughed, honest to god laughed like she hadn't in the months since Sam had died. It made her feel like she wasn't just putting on a brave face for everyone around her but like she'd really enjoyed herself.

Jacob on the other hand looked as if he was in hell. Leah could see that he tried for the first half hour to be cordial and be okay when Billy pulled out the baby pictures but when time continued to go on and they'd made no move to the door like Leah had promised, he had slowly but surely lost his cool. It was subtle at first, a few looks, a few snide comments but then Jacob was all but throwing a tantrum especially after Billy brought up the twins and how sad he was that they weren't speaking to him. It was like a trigger for Jacob and before he could explode, Leah was pretending to have a headache and pushing him towards the door.

"Thank you for having us," she said once they walked down the ramp.

"Thank you for convincing Jacob to stay," Billy said, giving Leah's hand a small kiss. "I hope you come back."

"Don't hold your breath," Jacob called from the passenger side of Leah's car.

Billy, however didn't seem phased and nodded his head slowly. "Take care of him. I know he has his other roommates but I feel like you can keep him in check."

"I'll do my best," Leah smiled before pressing the unlock button on her key ring. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Billy waved, waiting until they were in the car before heading back into his house.

Leah sighed, placing her seat belt over her chest and glanced at Jacob who was seething in his seat.

"Okay…" she started nervously. "That was longer than I anticipated."

Jacob flashed his head towards her, a wild look in his eyes. "Longer than you…. you are unbelievable! I'm never using you as an excuse again."

"Look, he seemed lonely and what, you just wanted to leave him here?"

"Yeah, yeah I did. Because that's what I normally do."

"He's your dad," she said in shock. "God forbid if he just wanted to know how you're doing? See if you're okay? God, you only get one dad."

"And I was chosen to have a fucked up one!" he snapped. "I didn't have the picture perfect life you had, Leah and it might seem like he's just some old man who's kids have abandoned him but when we needed him, when we really needed him, he was drunk off of his ass and making us fend for ourselves. Stop acting like you know my life story when you don't!"

Leah wasn't expecting him to snap on her like that, especially when she didn't think she'd done anything wrong. They sat in silence for a few moments, Leah trying to find her words. "I guess I just saw you with your dad and I thought about my dad and how much I missed him and—"

"Was your dad a drunk?" he cut her off.

"...No…"

"Then there is no comparison between our fathers. Just drop me off at my bike, I've got shit to do," he said, angrily buckling his seat belt.

Leah stared at him as he ended their conversation and felt something that was new to her, especially when it came to Jacob.

Guilt.

She started the car as she took a small breath and drove back to the park where they'd met up. The car wasn't just silent. She could handle silence. If anything she'd prefer it. But it was the air of words that were left lingering in the air. It was what was being left unsaid that was making her guilt crush her like a weight. Thankfully she didn't have to deal with it long because a few moments later, she was pulled up in front of the park, right next to his bike. Leah opened her mouth to apologize but before she could, Jacob was getting out of the car and slamming the door to the point that the entire vehicle shook.

"Hey!" Leah shouted, fumbling to unbuckle her seat belt and getting out of the car. "I know you're pissed at me but don't take it out on my car!"

"I wasn't-" he started before clenching his fists and taking a deep breath. "Sorry for slamming the door."

"No you're not," she rolled her eyes. "Look Jake, you're right. I don't know your dad and I don't know your situation and I cant compare it to mine because there is none. I shouldnt've tried to force you to spend time with him when it's clear you don't want to."

Jacob stared at her in the darkness, his eyes serious and his brows knitted together in thought. He stood there like that for so long that Leah thought he was telling her to go screw herself non-verbally and moved to go back into her car.

"Sounds almost like an apology," he called after her.

Leah stopped in her tracks and nodded with a hint of a smile. "Yeah it kinda is one and it makes me sick to my damn stomach that I've been having to apologize to you lately."

"I think you kinda like me," he shrugged.

"You're pushing it," she warned before growing serious. "I really am sorry…"

He looked like he wanted to be a smart ass as usual but Leah noticed something switch on his face before he dipped his head. "It's cool. You were trying to be decent despite it going against my morals," he joked. "We all make mistakes."

"Even the great Jacob Black?" she quipped.

He shook his head. "Nah… he's a god. He doesn't make mistakes."

Leah snorted. "Oh right, I almost forgot. The great deity Jacob Black can do no wrong."

"You're damn right." They stared at each other in silence for a few moments and Leah felt herself start to squirm under his gaze. Why did she suddenly feel awkward? Maybe it was because they were actually being nice to each other instead of ripping each others heads off or maybe it was something else.

Leah didn't have the time to figure it out and thankfully, neither did Jacob.

"Look you're forgiven and everything but we should both go before rush hour hits us," he said.

"Right," Leah snapped her fingers and spun around to go to her car. "See you at home?"

He stared at her as he mounted his bike and nodded. "Yeah, see you at home."

* * *

 **A/N: I dont think Jacob and Leah will ever NOT fight. I think that's just a part of their friendship. They argue and fight and then make up and I love it haha. This was originally apart of the last chapter but as you an see, I had to cut it up. But for those of you that wishes that I wrote longer chapters, here ya go! lol Enjoy.**

 **Please review!**


	16. Sweet Sixteen

Leah still didn't know what to do with the cellphone.

It stopped ringing weeks ago and she figured that maybe Emily got the hint that Sam wasn't going to answer but something about it nagged her. She wondered if somehow the news got back to Emily that Sam was dead and she wondered if that little girl was grieving her father. How did Emily explain to her that Sam had another life outside of her and that he wasn't going to be coming around to visit anymore. On top of that, Leah wondered what kind of father Sam was. Was he fun and silly with the little girl or was he serious and robotic? She wondered if he was a good dad and wondered if he would have been a good dad to their kids.

She never really wanted kids. She was kinda on the team where if it happened, it happened but if it didn't happen, it didn't happen. She didn't feel like it was her job as a wife to have kids and breed besides most of the kids she ran into, she kinda hated. They were like drunk adults, unable to control their emotions or bodies and they didn't always know how loud they were. But with Sam, she could look forward to that life of diapers and booboos and sticky hands. She wanted to know what the perfect combination of them together would like or what their personality would be or what kind of a mother she would be. But now that she was gone, she was never going to have those answers questioned. She wasn't even sure she'd ever find another person who made her think she wanted kids the way she did with Sam much less if she ever wanted to find that person.

After seeing her mom move on with Charlie, it was like this weird reflective glass on her own life. She was nowhere near ready to date, Sam had just died 4 months ago but the idea of being with another man made her feel prickly all over and not in the good way. She missed feeling wanted but she didn't want to kiss another man, touch another man, have another man touch her because Sam was it for her. Maybe in 6 years, she could be like her mom; giddy and excited about a new relationship but for now, she was fine.

She spent the better part of her day visualizing her never to be real children while finally unpacking her things into Sam's, now her, room. She was gonna have to redecorate because the walls were covered in posters and the paint needed to be retouched but she had time now that she didn't technically have to work since she didn't pay rent. She insisted that she should but all four men told her she was allowed to stay free of charge as long as she didn't put candles all over their house.

Little did they know, she had an entire box dedicated to candles.

"Hey," Embry knocked at her door, a pleasant smile on his face.

"Hey," she replied, tossing an empty box in the corner. "No work today?"

"It is Saturday. But I was just peeking in to see if you needed any help before I headed out."

Leah wiggled her eyebrows. "Ohhh got a hot date?"

He scoffed and shook his head. "No! God no. I haven't been on a date in forever."

"Why?"

He opened his mouth to speak but then shut it quickly. "Just haven't seen who I wanted yet."

"Bullshit," she chuckled. "Come on what gives? Oh wait… are you gay?"

Embry laughed and glanced down at the ground. "No I'm not gay there's just uh…"

"There's just what?" she urged, expecting him to tell her a juicy secret.

"There's just been this girl I've been into for years and I just don't know how to tell her or if she notices I exist."

"Well is she single?"

"Yeah but-"

"Then just tell her. You're a good guy Embry. She notices you. And if she doesnt, then she's an idiot."

Embry had a hopeful glint in his eyes and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. "You think so?"

"I know so. And I don't know a lot of things," she muttered, staring down at her engagement ring.

Embry frowned and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

Now wasn't the time to freak out over the things she didn't know about Sam. He was gone and couldn't answer her questions and while he had a child she knew nothing about, he hadn't cheated on her. They still had a happy life together. "Yeah," she answered. "I'm fine just wrecked from finally unpacking all of my stuff. Thanks again. I never thought I'd be moving in with my fiancé's old roommates but when life hands ya lemons."

"You make a visual album about your cheating rapper husband?" he joked.

"Great minds Embry. Great minds," she pointed at him.

He taped his temple before glancing down at his watch. "I should get going. I'm actually headed to my parents for dinner. It's my mom's birthday."

She poked out her bottom lip and bounced her shoulders. "A momma's boy. I like it. Have fun."

"You too with all of your unpacking," he said, waving her way before leaving her alone in her swamp of boxes.

Why did she have so much stuff? She could have sworn that when she'd decided to move in, the only thing she was going to bring was going to be her clothes and shoes but she'd ended up seeing things while packing that she just couldn't part with and when she decided to get a storage unit just in case, she brought nearly all of her stuff from the house. She always used to think Sam was the one with the most clutter but it turns out she might be a border like hoarder. Leah reached for an empty box and started tossing things that she could donate into it. Sure, she didn't have the luxury of buying new clothes but some of her things she didn't need anymore. She was half way through dumping out her suitcase when she heard a ring at the door. She assumed it was Embry who'd forgotten her key and jogged down the stairs to answer the door.

"Coming," she called, nearly tripping over Quil's skateboard. "Jesus, Quil!" She forcefully opened the door and was surprised to see that it wasn't Embry. It was a woman with long dark curls and a toddler no older than two, on her hip, her hair in two ponytails. She had big brown eyes, the type that could get you to do whatever she wanted you to do and the chunkiest cheeks Leah had ever seen. She was tooth achingly cute and Leah wanted to vomit because she'd seen that face before, she just couldn't place it.

"Hi," she said, sounding as if she was out of breath. "I'm looking for Sam Uley."

Oh no. There was that weird nagging feeling in the center of her chest again. Leah gripped the door knob so tightly she was sure her knuckles were turning white. She should speak but no matter how much words came to her mind, her voice was gone. She couldn't say one single thing.

The woman watched Leah gape at her and pulled her bag up on her shoulder before extending a perfectly manicured hand her way and huffing.

"Here I am a stranger just knocking at the door and asking for someone that lives here. I could be a killer for all you know," she giggled, adjusting the toddler on her hip. "Sorry. My name's Emily. Is Sam here?"

* * *

 **A/N: Just when you thought the whole Emily thing was left behind in the dust. This is the ultimate turning point for Leah and it's going to affect her a lot. Make sure you let me know what you think about this chapter in the reviews!**


	17. 17 Reasons Why This Is A Bad Idea

**Happy Holidays and all that.**

 **On with it then!**

* * *

Leah was surprised she didn't crash her car into the police station because of how fast she was driving. Did she stop the car before she got out? She wasn't sure. The one thing she was sure about was that Jacob Black was a god damn liar.

She pulled open the front door of the station with so much force, her arm stung but it didn't matter, she was on the war path and Jacob was in her sights. She looked around the room and gritted her teeth when she spotted him by the water cooler, laughing as if he had no worry in the world while her world was set on fire, yet again because her fiance was trash.

She walked up just as he was chuckling at a joke and tapped his shoulder a little harder than necessary.

"Ow! Jesus Leah, hi to you too," he spoke, rubbing his bicep.

"You fucking liar!" she accused, louder than she meant to. She didn't want to cause a scene but she was beyond the point of return and all she wanted was to choke Jacob with her bare hands. " 'we all make mistakes' what a loud of shit! You said she was six. Six! She's barely out of her fucking diapers!"

The color drained from Jacob's face and he placed his plastic cup down, looking around as a few people stared. He grabbed her elbow and pulled her towards a supply closet, away from peering eyes so they could freely talk. Once he shut the door, Leah's hand was already across his face sending a seething smack his way.

"You lied to me. You looked me in my eye and told me that he didn't cheat on me. You told me it was before me and that she was six years old. She's still a baby!" she exclaimed, trying not to break down. Her emotions were all over the place. She was angry and sad and hurt and felt betrayed and most of those emotions weren't just coming from Sam cheating on her, it was coming because a part of her trusted Jacob. They had a mutual understanding that resembled a friendship and he'd lied to her face.

Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.

She was just figuring out her own weird way to get the hell over finding out Sam had a kid and now to find out, the kid wasn't actually a kid but a baby and he'd been cheating. She felt disgusted, like she was dirty and felt goose bumps rise up on her arms. Her engagement ring suddenly felt heavy and she wanted to fling it across the room. Or even better, at Jacob's head.

"Leah," he tried to say.

"Shut up!" she shouted, pushing him back as he tried to get close to her. He stumbled back a step and ran a hand through his hair as she ranted. "I don't wanna hear any more lies. You knew he was cheating. You knew how old his daughter was and you didn't tell me."

"It wasn't easy to lie to you, ya know!" he said defensively.

Leah scoffed. "Oh poor you. Must be so hard to lie to someone instead of being honest. How do you survive?" she said sarcastically. "And to think I actually thought we were friends."

"We are! But he is my best friend and sorry to break it to you but he comes before you!"

"He is dead!" she snapped, pushing Jacob once more. "He's gone and you were just covering for him because that's what best pals do right? They just hide shit from everyone else including the people it most affects."

"He didn't want you to know!" he shouted back.

"You should have told me when he died! If he wanted to take his secret to the grave, fine but you didn't have to keep his secret anymore! I deserved to know!" she screamed, pressing her hands against his chest once more to push him. She stared up at him fiercely, her heart pounding in her chest. Right now, Jacob was her least favorite person and if she could punch him, god knows she would. She actually had the nerve to think that they were calling some kind of truce, like they were doing Sam a justice after his death when really everything she thought to be true was a lie and she was played for a fool.

"Would you stop pushing me," he pointed at her, his own temper flaring up.

"No!" she cried, going to shove him again only to have Jacob catch her hands and positioned her against the wall, her hands tight on her chest. "God, I hate you!"

"Me?!" He rose an angry eyebrow. "You hate me?! I didn't do shit to hurt you personally Leah. I was doing what my friend asked of me. I didn't care if he fell off the face of the earth, I was taking his secret to my grave because that's what he wanted. He didn't wanna hurt you and I wasn't gonna be the one to do it because I didn't wanna hurt you either! If you're so mad, be pissed at Sam because he was the one that gave you that ring and he was the one that was supposed to be honest with you. Like you always liked to remind me, I was just his idiot best friend. Don't use me as a stand in punching bag because Sam isn't here!"

The two scowled at each other for what felt like forever. They were both trembling with anger, both probably wanted to kill each other, although Leah was sure she wanted to kill Jacob more. She tried to remove her hands from his hold but he only held her tighter to the wall, which only made her hate him more. Their stare off never wavered and both were breathing like they'd just ran a mile because that's what it felt like. She felt like she'd ran an emotional marathon and she wasn't allowed to stop no matter how many times she felt like passing out.

The next thing Leah knew, their lips were on each others and her hands were no longer pressed to her chest but were rummaging through Jacob's hair.

That wasn't supposed to happen.

She hated him, right? She was angry and so was he and yet their anger had quickly turned into something else. His strong arms wrapped around her waist and she could feel his fingertips dragging against the skin just under the hem of her shirt. She hadn't kissed like this in… well ever. Even when she kissed Sam, it was gentle, never this intense to the point where she was felt frazzled and out of whack but couldn't bring herself to pull away.

She found herself inviting his tongue past her lips and she was surprised to see that he tasted like licorice and heat. His fingers dug into her skin while his other hand messily fingered her hair. For the first time in a while, her mind was clear of thoughts and not in the way where she ignored what was nagging her but in the way that there was nothing on her mind except for right now, this moment, how warm Jacob felt and how his lips felt against hers.

Oh god.

She was kissing Jacob.

He pulled away as the thought crossed her mind and breathed out heavily, his forehead resting against hers. Nothing needed to be said because they both knew whatever this was, was wrong. She didn't know how they got to the point of kissing but all she knew was that she felt fucked up.

Leah pulled her hands off of him and held them up, so that she wasn't touching him at all. She was still trying to figure out what the hell came over her. They hadn't just kissed, they'd made out like two horny teenagers and that was the opposite of what they were. That was the opposite of who she was and she wanted to blame her grieving on her actions but she hadn't even thought of Sam when she kissed Jake. She hadn't thought of anything at all, she just did it.

Jacob took a step backwards and placed a hand over his mouth, as if he were in shock by his own actions and parted his lips to speak. Leah held up a hand to stop him and he silenced himself. She couldn't hear his voice right now, not when she felt like a crazy person. So instead of speaking, she adjusted her shirt and walked out of the supply closet in a daze.

* * *

 **A/N: And things just got interesting... make sure you review ;)**


	18. The Eighteenth

"We should start planning things for Christmas," Sue said, placing a fresh plate full of rolls on to the table before taking her seat.

"Mom, we've got like a month until Christmas," Seth mumbled, his mouth full of food. "Besides, what needs to be planned? We'll do what we always do. Lee and I will stay over Christmas Eve, we'll order Chinese, and stay up all night watching It's A Wonderful Life. There you go. Planned!"

"I was thinking this year we could do something different," she suggested nervously, not bothering to look up from her plate.

"Different?" he only son shook his head. "Mom we've been doing that since we were kids. Why change it?"

Sue seemed reluctant to speak and took a quick sip of her wine before clearing her throat. "Charlie wants us to have Christmas together."

"What?!" Seth gasped, nearly choking on his food. "Charlie wants this?"

"I want it too," Sue said.

"Lee, you hearing this?" he asked, astonished.

Vaguely, she wanted to say. She was so wrapped up in her past week that she couldn't really engage in their typical Sunday conversation like she always did. She knew they both were wondering what was wrong with her but neither of them asked and for that, she was grateful. Right now, she couldn't explain to them that her life was a huge mess and she wasn't even sure how to fix it. Finding out her fiance had a secret kid he hid from her, sure. She could deal. In fact, she thought she was doing a fantastic job dealing with that interest fact. But finding out that he'd cheated on her and that kid was damn near a baby? She felt like she was having a meltdown. Kissing Jacob on top of that was just like some weird icing on an already shitty cake.

"Listen, you two are adults so I wont sugar coat things," Sue started, looking between her children. "Charlie and I have gotten closer and we want out families to get to know each other."

"I don't wanna hear about you and your boyfriend going steady," Seth stuck out his tongue in distaste. He noticed Leah was silent when normally she would be right there with him, ripping away. "Hey Lee, you okay?"

"What?" she said, trying to return her focus on to her family and what was happening in front of her, instead of what had happened in the supply closet last week. "Yeah. I'm okay um. You wanna have a group Christmas with the Swans?"

Sue nodded her head. "Yes. Bella and her husband will stay at Charlie's but then we wanted to have dinner and breakfast together. We can still do our Chinese food and movie marathon, we'll just have a few more people there."

"No," Seth frowned, completely against the idea. "Mom you cant invite a bunch of outsiders into our tradition. A tradition that has been around since we were babies, I might add. Unless their last name is Clearwater, no way."

"Well what do you suppose we do Seth?" Sue asked, exasperated. "I just want you two to get to know Charlie because I care about him a lot and you two are my everything. I would really like if you would consider."

"I dunno…. Lee, some help? What's going on with you."

"Yeah honey, you don't seem all here," Sue pointed out.

Leah placed her fork down on to her plate and sighed. She could feel that need to purge and while she didn't want to dump all of her crap on her family, what better place to do it then here? She couldn't do it back at her house because no matter how close she was with the guys, they were always going to be Sam's guys, not hers. She could trust them but not like her own flesh and blood.

"Sam has a daughter," she said slowly.

"What?" Sue gasped.

"Oh god," Seth gulped.

"Her and her mom came to the house last week asking for Sam and I knew it," Leah continued, not wanting to meet their eyes. "The minute I looked at her, I knew it. I didn't even tell them that he died. All I could say was that he wasn't there and when she asked who I was, I said I was the housekeeper," she laughed bitterly, remembering her interaction with Emily.

"There has to be a mistake," Sue shook her head. "Sam has a daughter?"

"No mistake Mom. She's two." She placed her head in her hands and grunted. "He was cheating on me. He had an entire second life with this girl from Seattle."

Sue and Seth stared at Leah with wide eyes, both swallowing the information she'd placed in front of them. She omitted the weird parts where Jacob lied to her and where she found out and they'd kissed in the supply closet because frankly, it wasn't any of their business. Not to mention she still felt slightly guilty when she shouldn't. Sam cheated and he was gone. He'd been gone for months and she had the right to kiss whoever the hell she wanted, wherever she wanted.

And yet she still felt grimy.

"Oh my god, sweetie," her mom started to say, reaching over and rubbing her shoulder. "You can let it out, it's okay."

Leah shrugged her mother away and stood up. "Mom, I don't wanna cry, I wanna hit something," she snapped. She wasn't mad at her mom, she knew that but it was like she'd been burying and hiding from so many emotions that they were coming out at the wrong time in the wrong way. Hence why she kissed Jacob. "I'm pissed because Sam was living this other life and I had no idea. I mean he has a kid. A kid! One that looks just like him I might add, they could be fucking twins. Sorry Mom," she said, excusing her language. "And it just sucks because here I am feeling guilty about…."

"Feeling guilty about what?" Seth questioned.

"Nothing," Leah recovered. "I just have been missing him and wanting him and I cant imagine ever wanting anyone besides him. And to realize that when he was alive, he was with someone else, hurts. It hurts so bad it's like he died all over again."

The room was silent for a moment as Leah paced around their dining room table. She could tell her mother wanted to do something to fix this but there was nothing she could do. The damage was done and the person that caused this was dead and couldn't even try and clean up his mess. Instead, he had his best friend do it.

"I wish he was alive so I could kill him again," Seth finally said.

"Seth!" Sue gasped.

"Oh you know you're thinking the same thing," he said, annoyed. Her brother wasn't the type to get overtly angry often. He was a giant teddy bear, so it was surprising to hear the words come out of his mouth. "I cant believe he did that to you Lee. I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, me too," Leah breathed, gripper her hair by the roots. Maybe if she could just rip a few strands out, she'd be fine. "How am I supposed to act? How do I keep grieving for a man who cheated on me but made me the happiest I'd ever been?"

Sue stared at her eldest child and stood up, placing a hand on her back. "Seth, will you clear the table?"

"…Yeah," she said, getting the hint. He started lifting plates into his hand and took them into the kitchen, leaving the two women alone.

"Honey, no one is gonna tell you how to act. You're angry and you have that right but no one is going to fault you for still loving him. He made you happy aside from this thing he kept from you. No one is telling you to just move on over night. This is a lot. You need to process."

Leah dropped her head and let out a long groan. "I hate processing things. Remember when Dad died and I ran away for a week? I suck at this whole grieving thing."

"And you think others succeed at it?" Sue chuckled. "You have no idea how many times I wanted to pick up and run away after your father died."

"Why didn't you?" she asked, half joking.

"Because of you and Seth. Because my babies needed me to be strong. So I did what I had to do. The question is, what is it that you have to do to get through this because not dealing with this isn't going to help you at all."

She was right. She needed to deal, no matter how utterly fucked up this all way and no matter how much she wanted to bury and wanted to ignore everything that was going on. But it was easier said than done.

Leah placed her head on her mother's shoulder, voluntarily pulling her into a hug. She knew she caught her mother off guard but right now, she needed a hug, no matter how opposed to physical affection she was.

"I wish I was strong like you Mommy," she whispered, her body feeling heavy with emotions and stress. She felt her mother gently stroke her hair and sighed at the comforting sensation.

"You are sweetie. Stronger even. You just don't know it yet."

* * *

 _ **A/N: I always think that Leah's relationship with her family is one of my favorite things about her. What do you think about this chapter? Let me know, I'd love to hear your thoughts and theories of how you think Leah and Jacob will act around each other when they finally talk lol**_


	19. Nineteen Bottles of Beer On The Wall

Leah wanted to stick her head out of the fast moving car in hopes that the wind would somehow make it easier to breathe or solve all of her problems.

Life right now, was hard to say the least.

In fact it was passed that. It was in some weird limbo between being absolute hell and the worst time of her life. She thought losing Sam was hard but to learn that she'd lost him before she even physically lost him was like the last gust of wind to an already fragile building.

She adjusted the glasses on her face and turned to look at Seth as he drove down the long road, his hands gripping the wheel tightly.

Her brother was a good man.

She'd never say it out loud because it would go straight to his head but he really was a kind person. She sometimes envied how likable he was because she wasn't exactly the most charming person in the world. She was sure for the longest time that she was adopted into a family of freakishly nice aliens that never said a rude thing about someone who didn't deserve it because both of her parents were like that too. They were the kind neighbors who brought cookies over for Christmas or remembered that time you mentioned your cousin's uncle's friend liked the Steelers and gave you a football mug for them. They were just that great and she, well she was the opposite. And yet she'd tricked someone into falling in love with her, even wanting to marry her, only to learn that she was the one that was tricked.

"Thank you for this," she said with a small smile.

"No thanks needed. You'd do it for me," he said, pulling into a parking spot and turning the car off. "You sure you don't want me to come with you?"

Leah shook her head. "No.. I think it needs to just be me and him. We need to talk," she said, opening her car door and getting out. She slowly walked her way up to the top of the hill, make sure to be careful where she stepped. The idea of a cemetery already freaked her out. Stepping on graves and getting some kinda bad juju was somethign she couldn't afford.

Her heart stopped, approaching Sam's headstone cautiously. The last time she was here, it was all a blur. She was grieving and hurting and her best friend was gone but now, she was still grieving and hurting. The only difference was that she wasn't sure if she knew who her best friend was anymore.

Leah pulled her sunglasses off her eyes and stood there, staring at his grave for who knows how long. At some point, she touched the simple headstone, her fingers tingling at how cold it was. She was grateful that Sam's mother took control of the funeral because picking out a tombstone was the last thing she could even envision doing after Sam died.

She breathed out with a shake of her head, swallowing the lump in her throat. "You really screwed me over here," she mumbled, her throat dry. "I mean I could deal with the girlfriend I didn't know about and maybe even the kid I didn't know about but the cheating? You just left this big shit storm behind Sam and you left me to clean it up. I mean, apart of me is glad you never told me when you were alive but another part of me is pissed you kept this from me. We were supposed to be honest with each other and you just…" she trailed off, shaking a few strands of hair out of her face as she knelt down until the headstone was at eye level and pushing some dead leaves off his grave. "What am I supposed to do now? Hate you? Love you? Miss you? Because I'm feeling a little bit of all three right now and it's not fun. I'm trying to understand or get through this somehow but why didn't you just tell me? God, I wish you'd just told me." She placed her forehead against the cold stone with Sam's name carved in it and willed herself to fight the tears. All of their happy memories were now tarnished because it was all a lie. Everytime she forced herself to think of a happy time they shared, it was like there was a big baby sized rain cloud that blurred it all. Every kiss, every laugh, every intimate moment was now stained with the truth.

"Was any of it real?" she asked softly. "Did you even love me or did you stay with me because you were comfortable?"

He couldn't answer her and right now, all she wanted was an answer. So, she stood, and patted his tombstone once more. She wasn't sure if she'd be back to see him again because right now, nothing made sense. The world and the life she thought she knew was flipped upside down and the man she thought she knew, she realized, was a stranger.

And that made her feel like a stranger.

Leah flipped her sunglasses back over her eyes, wanting to hide how puffy they looked from tears she refused to shed and walked back to Seth's car, her head dropped. Seth was leaning on his car, a cigarette dangling out of his mouth when she finally made it back.

"Hey," he fumbled, trying to hide his cigarette.

"Hey," Leah replied, going to lean against the car beside him. "Since when do you smoke?"

"It's a bad habit," he shrugged, looking down at the dangling cig inbetwen his fingers. "I think I picked it up back in high school. You remember Darren?"

"That douche with the ridiculous ponytail?"

Seth smirked. "Yeah. We used to get his dad's hidden packs and smoke them in his garage after school… Don't tell mom?"

Leah looked at her baby brother and snorted before taking his cigarette and inhaling her own drag. Her body reacted to the nicotine quickly and went straight to her head, making her slightly dizzy.

"How's he look?" Seth asked, taking his cigarette back from Leah and inhaling deeply.

"He's still dead," she said, trying not to cough.

Seth chuckled and stared at his older sister as she looked ahead at all the graves. "You wanna talk about it?"

At first, she shook her head because she couldn't be weak. Not right now. Not when she felt like life was repeatedly kicking her in the ribs and especially not when she felt like if she let go, she may never regain control of anything ever again.

"I don't know if I can."

Seth furrowed his brows in worry and brought his cigarette to his lips. "Leah Clearwater, always gotta be strong."

"That's what it says on my birth certificate," she joked.

"But you don't always have to be strong," he pointed out. "You cant bury your emotions. It'll just fuck you up."

Leah sighed and shook her head. "I'm already fucked up Sethy."

Seth hummed. "Hm, no, not my sister. My sister is flawed. But she isnt fucked up."

She scoffed and snatched his cigarette away before he could complain. "You must've had your brain wiped or these things are already killing you.."

Seth laughed with a nod. "Maybe. But you know it's okay to fall apart. The world will keep spinning. You will keep living and you'll still be you. No one will judge you for it."

"It's not that simple."

"That's the thing Lee… It kinda is," he shrugged.

Leah stared up at Seth, considering his words before flicking the cigarette across the road. "Those things'll kill you," she said, pushing herself off the car. "Let's get home so I can beg Quil to make me a grilled cheese."

"He's really easy to guilt. Just give him a sob story and you'll be drowning in food."

Leah rose an eyebrow. "You think a dead fiance would be good enough for grilled cheese for life?"

"It just might be Lee. It just might."

* * *

 **A/N: This is kinda a filler but kinda not because it definitely pushed the plot forward, at least for Leah it does. You'll see why in a few chapters. I just really love this interaction between Leah and Seth and I love that they lean on each other like this. They're sibling goals ha! Make sure you let me know what you think about this chapter. Dont be a silent reader (or do, that's fine too. No pressure.)**


	20. Only Got Twenty Dollars In My Pocket

"I think I need a job," Leah said, stabbing her fork into the pancakes Quil had just placed on her plate.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, turning the stove off.

She shoved a few pieces of pancakes into her mouth and shrugged, licking syrup from her lips. "I feel like I'm wasting away and doing something with my hands might, I dunno, make me feel better."

"Didn't you just quit your other job a few months ago? Go back."

"I cant," she shook her head. "It's not the same. That's the job I had before Sam died. It's like if I got back, I'll go back to that life before everything."

Quil shrugged and wiped his hands on a towel. "Well hey, I know that dive bar in town is hiring a new waitress. It might not pay much but you'll definitely be doing stuff with your hands," he offered.

Leah remembered that bar and she remembered being drunk off her ass and getting some sage advice from Black Santa. "What's the owner's name?"

"Jared. He's friends with Jake I think. He might be able to give you a little bit of a push in."

Leah felt her stomach flip at the sound of Jacob's name and shook her head. Even just thinking about him stressed her out, especially since they hadn't spoken since their kiss and frankly, she wasn't sure that she wanted to speak to him. Kissing him was one thing, and she definitely felt like crap about it but he lied to her. She actually had it twisted in her head that she was friends with him and then he lied to her.

"Nah, I'll just go in," she finally said, reaching for her orange juice.

Quil narrowed his eyes at Leah suspiciously. "Alright… well I'll see you later. I've got a bunch of 4th grade minds to enlighten today," he said, grabbing his satchel and heading out the door.

"Thanks for breakfast," she called, trying to eat her last few bites of pancakes just as she heard footsteps coming from downstairs. She assumed it was Seth heading to class but nearly choked when she saw it was Jacob, shirtless and dripping wet like he'd just gotten out of the shower. She looked down quickly and tried to avoid eye contact, like she was so interested in her plate of syrup.

"Oh," he said, noticing her and slowly walking into the kitchen. "Uh, morning.."

"Hey," she cleared her throat, reaching for her juice.

"This fresh coffee?" he pointed to the coffee maker.

"Um yeah," she nodded. "Quil just made it."

"Cool… you want some?"

Leah shook her head. "Thanks."

The tension was so thick, she practically felt like it was weighing her down and all she wanted to do was escape. She picked up her plate and quickly maneuvered around Jacob without actually being near him and tossed her dishes in the sink before bolting upstairs and shutting her bedroom door behind her. She covered her face and groaned into the palms of her hands, wincing when she realized there was a bit of syrup on them. Of course she got syrup on her face and of course the one person she didn't want to be alone with, much less speak to was the only person in the house.

Of fucking course.

This was her life. All the things she didn't want to happen had to happen because no day could go by where Leah actually had an okay day. She peeled her sticky hand from her face and cursed under her breath as she opened the door to head to the bathroom. She stopped, seeing Jacob standing there, his arm raised in a fist and his face, shocked.

"Uh…."

"Why are you standing in front of my door?" Leah frowned.

Jacob pointed to the mug in his hand and started to ramble. "Uh.. I brought you some coffee."

"I didn't want any."

"You're right, this is for me. Not you. This is my coffee. I don't know why I said I brought you coffee when this is mine, " he continued to trip over his words before groaning. "Leah we need to talk."

"I have syrup on my face."

"What?" he asked, confused.

She waved her hand, wishing he just understood that she didn't want to speak to him right now. "I ate pancakes for breakfast and I have syrup on my face and I need to wipe it off. Can we talk later?"

"Um, yeah that's fi-"

"Great!" she cut him off, pushing past him and practically sprinting into the bathroom. She silently screamed into the sky and angrily turned on the faucet.

"Fuck me, right?" she mumbled, splashing her face and staring up at the ceiling. "If there's anyone up there, what the hell did I ever do to you, huh? Why don't you cut a girl a break?"

Jacob opened the door suddenly, causing Leah to jump and take a giant step back.

"What the hell!"

"We need to talk," he said quickly, placing his cup down on the counter.

"This doesn't qualify as later Jacob," she said, reaching to turn off the water.

"I don't wanna talk later."

Leah scrunched her face, trying, her hardest not to scream at the top of her lungs and let out a long steady breath. "You're not gonna let me out of this bathroom unless we talk, are you?"

"Nope," he said, with a pop. "Look, you cant pretend I don't exist the same way I cant pretend you don't exist. I'd rather you hate me than whatever the hell is happening right now."

"Well lucky for you," she quipped.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly, not meeting her eyes. "I was trying to protect Sam and it just got kinda fucked in the middle so… sorry."

Leah stared at Jake as he finished, his eyes still on the ground. She couldn't believe her ears. He followed her around the house, blocked her into the bathroom and practically held her hostage for that half assed apology?

"Oh my god, you're incapable of apologizing, aren't you?"

"What?!" Jacob's jaw dropped in shock.

"Is it your pride or like what?" she cocked her head to the side.

he threw his hands into the air in frustration and groaned. "What the hell is it that I'm doing right now then Leah?"

"You're avoiding eye contact and not really talking about why I'm upset. You're talking about it without talking about it which is a cop out," she said. "Look, Sam did what Sam did. And I hope to god he's paying for it but since he's dead, I cant take it up with him. You looked me in the eye and said it was before me. You are the one who lied about that specific thing. I don't need you to apologize for Sam, I need you to apologize for you."

Jacob gulped and ran a hand through his hair slowly. "You're right."

"Wait, what?" She wasn't expecting him to agree with her, much less do it this quickly

"I shoulda told you and I didn't. And I'm a dick for that and I swear to god if I could go back in time and change this entire shitty thing, I would because you might be a pain in my ass but you didn't deserve to be lied to. Not by me and not by Sam. I thought I was doing the right thing by hiding the truth about Emily from you but I wasn't. And for that I'm sorry."

Now it was Leah's turn to be at a loss for words. She wasn't expecting such an eloquent apology. Honestly she just thought that Jacob would just repeat his previous sorry and tell her to get over it if she didn't like it. A part of her wanted to hate him but she couldn't fully. Not after his apology.

Leah opened her mouth and shut it, not finding words and crossed her arms before giving an indignant nod.

"Also," Jacob continued. "I'm sorry for the other thing… you know… the kiss thing. That was just..."

"Weird," Leah said, filling in the blanks.

"I know right," he agreed. "I don't even know what came over me. You were just yelling and all I wanted to do was make you stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" Leah frowned.

"Like I was Sam breaking your heart all over again," he answered, meeting her eyes. "I don't think I ever wanna see that look again. Apart of me understands why Sam never told you about Emily because if he saw your face, it woulda killed him."

Leah nodded slowly. "Yeah well, good thing an aneurysm got to him before I could," she darkly joked, Jacob giving her a half smile.

He went to say more but as the words left his mouth, they were interrupted by Seth, his towel in hand and a confused look on his face.

"Why are you two in the bathroom. Together?"

"Talking," Leah answered.

"Coffee," Jacob said at the same time. They looked at one another and for the first time in days, shared a smile. "I was getting my coffee and Leah decided to blab my ear off. As if I wanna hear about her life."

"I'm sorry you only like the sound of your own voice Jake," she quipped, pushing past her brother and leaving the bathroom.

Seth still looked confused but shrugged a shoulder, not caring what his sister and roommate were discussing. "Whatever. Get out Black, I gotta shower."

Jacob grabbed his coffee and excused himself from the small room. "As you wish your highness."

* * *

 **A/N: Well I figured it was time Jacob and Leah reconciled. How long will it last for?**


End file.
